Lesley Hayes was born in Deptford, in South East London, in 1948, and started writing almost as soon as she could talk. Her first story was published when she won a literary competition at the age of 13. Between 1966 and 1992 she was regularly and prolifically published in literary and women's magazines, writing stories, serials and articles, and in 1986 had a novel published called 'Keeping Secrets'. For the following two years she had a weekly slot on BBC Radio Oxford reading her short stories, and in 1999 a collection of linked stories called 'Oxford Marmalade' was brought out on audiotape, read by the actress Susanna Dawson. Her son and daughter, born respectively in 1969 and 1971, helped her throughout these years to keep her feet on the ground and her sense of humour alive and well and occasionally kicking. In 1990 she came to the conclusion that continuing to write about the fascinating vagaries of the human condition just wouldn't be enough, and for the next four years she trained to become an integrative psychotherapist. Her long and successful career as a psychotherapist over the ensuing years took her away from fiction writing, but brought quite different rewards. It was a fork in the road she never once regretted taking, and she was aware of using many of same creative skills and insights. During the past five years the compelling urge to write fiction has again emerged, and she has given in gracefully to the inevitable return to her first love. Her novels 'A Field Beyond Time' and 'The Drowned Phoenician Sailor' are available on kindle, along with three collections of short stories: 'The Oscar Dossier','Without a Safety Net' and the aptly named 'Not Like Other People.' As you might expect, now that the genie has once again escaped from the bottle, more will soon follow.