Fantasy

Early years in England Louise Kirstie Tucker was born in a lovely languid summer in Gosport, England. She is the youngest of three sisters and can tell you that being the youngest is not as easy as people may think! Her father, John (Tug) Wilson, was a submariner in the Royal Navy and her mother, Sheila, a home executive. The family moved around quite a bit due to naval assignments and based themselves in Thurso, Scotland when Louise was but a wee lass. Later, they moved to Plymouth, Devon, where Louise attended the Whitleigh Infant and Junior Schools. She has fond memories of playing marbles in the street, swinging on ropes in the woods, collecting blackberries and walking down narrow lanes to sing in the choir at St Mary’s in Tamerton Foliot. Moving country When she was just nine years old the family emigrated to Cape Town, South Africa, to begin a very different life. Louise’s Dad began working at the newly commissioned Koeberg Nuclear Power Station approximately 40 Km from Cape Town. Initially, there was lots of sand and beautiful beaches and not much else! But it was insanely picturesque. Louise began school at Table View Primary School where she had to learn Afrikaans (South Africa’s compulsory second language) and also integrate into a new culture. During her teen years she attended Milnerton High School where she mostly hid behind a cool Eighties fringe and railway-track braces. However, she did learn a few things including how to play the guitar, a passion for art, English, and biology. And of course, she read loads and loads of books; from love stories to John Irving, John le Carre, and Mary Brown. Career and Family After school, Louise attended secretarial college for a year and thereafter began a career as a personal secretary. Following this, she moved into sales for a computer networking company. In 1992, she married Sean and they have been inseparable ever since. Louise switched careers again in 1998 to a post as IT Research Manager for a large insurance company which she still holds today. Things changed radically for Sean and Louise in 2003 with the addition of their son, Jack. Whilst on maternity leave, Louise was inspired by all the children’s books she was reading and acquiring for her young son. She began pursuing opportunities to write books herself and so began her life as a children’s book author. Academic Qualifications In 2016, after years of hard graft, Louise achieved academic success with a BA degree in Creative Writing (cum laude) from the University of South Africa (Unisa). Things Louise loves … Louise has a deep love for her family and her favourite thing to do is spend time with them. “Family” includes a spoiled white Maltese rescue dog called Toby, who is her constant shadow. She loves being in and around nature and enjoys gardening; particularly acquiring new plants (no shoe obsession here!) In addition, Louise loves art and culture, reading novels (especially classics), and if she gets the chance, painting in watercolour. Although not overly adventurous, this lady loves travel, new experiences and the odd adventure which translates to having tandem-skydived, ziplined, and ridden an elephant! She is driven to be creative and her hobbies over the years have been many and varied, including: painting in watercolour, knitting, singing, guitar, organ, Scottish country dancing, Ballroom and Latin dancing, a commercial and movie extra, bird-watching and photography.