My favourite piece of furniture is the small inlaid Indian rosewood bookcase which was bequeathed to me by my grandmother, who encouraged me to write. My grandparents both wrote their memoirs in their 80s. My grandfather’s memoirs, ‘Wingfield at War’ are his tales of survival and derring-do as Captain of a submarine during WW2 and were broadcast by the BBC. My grandmother’s are poetic musings on life growing up in a castle in Scotland just before WW1.

The bookcase now sits at my bedside instead of my grandmother’s. It is crammed full of my journals dating back to 1990 alongside my favourite novels and often a cup of tea gone cold while lying in bed lost in my own writing.

I was born into a family shattered by the sudden death of my father in a plane crash in 1967. He was a test pilot for the Fleet Air Arm and disappeared in mysterious circumstances over Belfast Lough. His body was never found. As a child I expressed myself through dance and buried myself in novels. I made up adventure stories and forced my friends to act them out in the playground and performed in Pantomimes at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon.

After falling secretly in love with Philippe, my French exchange’s brother, I decided to study for a BA in French and Italian at Bristol University. There I forgot about Philippe and fell in love with Nouvelle Vague films and the 19th century French novel, started writing poetry and starred in a show of the songs of Jacques Brel, which toured the country and is being reprised to this day.

In my 20s I lived in Notting Hill, London, and was an extra in the film of the same name. I co-wrote and acted in a comedy sketch show called ‘Lloyd Grossman out to Lunch’ at the Edinburgh festival in 1991 and started studying and teaching yoga, including to a few 1990s celebrities.

After a spell of dancing, modelling and heartbreak in Paris, I returned to London and started therapy where I experienced the healing process of understanding my own life in the context of my family history. I studied for a Certificate in Psychotherapy and Counselling and an MA in drama and movement therapy at Central School of Speech and Drama. On graduating, I set up Creative Edge, a training company, to design and deliver ground-breaking group and individual coaching in the private and public sector, including a two year transformational programme for Easyjet Airline.

I see myself as a people gardener. I am fascinated by human nature and ancestry and love to help people get rooted; to connect with their emotions, piece together their life stories, honour their forefathers and mothers and flourish through this process. One client describes my coaching in this way ‘Subtle, soulful and sublime, Mel offers a rare opportunity to stop, think and enquire of oneself.’

In my 40s, I set up my own yoga retreat company based in Andalucia, Spain where I also teach creative writing. In 2015 I achieved a lifelong dream by singing in the American bar at the Savoy hotel in London.

As my children grew up and my journals started toppling my grandmother’s bookcase, I decided it was time to take my writing seriously. I signed up for an MA in Creative Writing and Authorship at Sussex University and started writing a novel. Little did I know it would take 10 years to complete.

I look forward to helping you to tell your story in your own unique way.