Biography
Born in Kansas City, Mimi moved to Lawrence, Kansas when in her teens and still calls the university town ‘home’. While at university, Mimi was very active in the ‘New Wave’ music scene and many of her friends are professional musicians and DJs.
It was near the end of her degree, in Lawrence, Kansas that Mimi met her husband Andy, who had come to Lawrence to work for novelist William S Burroughs. Andy and Mimi married in 1985.
For several years, they worked in Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. Mimi worked on her writing and Andy developed his knowledge and love of fine wine. They travelled the world in the ‘off season,’ and after one memorable winter in Mexico, arrived back in Yellowstone with only 37¢. Thank goodness for the wonderful friends they’d made – who bought the silly couple pizza and a motel room the night before their quarters opened!
After their ‘gap decade’, Andy and Mimi decided to get serious about their careers, in 1992. They moved to London, where they stayed with friends while they got established – Andy working for Oddbins and Mimi working in journalism, marketing and office management while she wrote her second unpublished novel. Eventually they bought a flat in Stoke Newington and then in Streatham.
Mimi attended the Bath Spa Creative Writing MA in 1999 and her MA dissertation, The Saint Who Loved Me, was agented by David Riding at MBA and published by Alison and Busby. This was well reviewed and was a featured book at Borders and Waterstones.
Three books for children (Wipe Out, Hit the Road, Jack and Get Real) soon followed, as did a book for early readers (Drawing Together). All were agented by Sophie Gorell Barnes at MBA and all achieved great success – Wipe Out was made into a BAFTA award-winning film by the BBC and translated into French, and Drawing Together was translated into Spanish, Serbian and Korean.
During this time, Mimi began teaching for Bath Spa University, and eventually Andy and Mimi moved to the West Country, where they lived on a beautiful narrowboat. Here, in 2002, their daughter Olivia was born and they moved back onto land in order to raise their little family.
During this time, Mimi wrote Welcome to Eudora and The Corner Booth Chronicles, as she realised that she would not be moving back to her beloved Kansas. She also achieved her PhD in Creative Writing in 2007. Five-year old Olivia attended the graduation ceremony dressed as a fairy!
Mimi continues to write and teach in the beautiful West Country of England, though her heart still sometimes wanders back across the Atlantic. She visits the USA as often as she can and very much misses her mother and her large extended family.
She is currently at work on three books: a memoir, called Hospital High, a dystopian novel, working title To Hide My Blazing Heart, and a novel about Yellowstone, called The Soul of a Bear.
It was near the end of her degree, in Lawrence, Kansas that Mimi met her husband Andy, who had come to Lawrence to work for novelist William S Burroughs. Andy and Mimi married in 1985.
For several years, they worked in Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. Mimi worked on her writing and Andy developed his knowledge and love of fine wine. They travelled the world in the ‘off season,’ and after one memorable winter in Mexico, arrived back in Yellowstone with only 37¢. Thank goodness for the wonderful friends they’d made – who bought the silly couple pizza and a motel room the night before their quarters opened!
After their ‘gap decade’, Andy and Mimi decided to get serious about their careers, in 1992. They moved to London, where they stayed with friends while they got established – Andy working for Oddbins and Mimi working in journalism, marketing and office management while she wrote her second unpublished novel. Eventually they bought a flat in Stoke Newington and then in Streatham.
Mimi attended the Bath Spa Creative Writing MA in 1999 and her MA dissertation, The Saint Who Loved Me, was agented by David Riding at MBA and published by Alison and Busby. This was well reviewed and was a featured book at Borders and Waterstones.
Three books for children (Wipe Out, Hit the Road, Jack and Get Real) soon followed, as did a book for early readers (Drawing Together). All were agented by Sophie Gorell Barnes at MBA and all achieved great success – Wipe Out was made into a BAFTA award-winning film by the BBC and translated into French, and Drawing Together was translated into Spanish, Serbian and Korean.
During this time, Mimi began teaching for Bath Spa University, and eventually Andy and Mimi moved to the West Country, where they lived on a beautiful narrowboat. Here, in 2002, their daughter Olivia was born and they moved back onto land in order to raise their little family.
During this time, Mimi wrote Welcome to Eudora and The Corner Booth Chronicles, as she realised that she would not be moving back to her beloved Kansas. She also achieved her PhD in Creative Writing in 2007. Five-year old Olivia attended the graduation ceremony dressed as a fairy!
Mimi continues to write and teach in the beautiful West Country of England, though her heart still sometimes wanders back across the Atlantic. She visits the USA as often as she can and very much misses her mother and her large extended family.
She is currently at work on three books: a memoir, called Hospital High, a dystopian novel, working title To Hide My Blazing Heart, and a novel about Yellowstone, called The Soul of a Bear.
