Penny

Photograph: Phil Erswell

Penny was born in Dartford, Kent, UK. She began writing several years ago at university. Her first taste of success was in the Bromley Arts Festival Playwriting Competition in 1999 with a short play about a conversation between four amoebas.

Her first book Theodora’s Diary, a comedy-novel, likened to a Christian Bridget Jones’ Diary, was published in September 2001 by HarperCollins. The sequel, Theodora’s Wedding, was published by Zondervan in September 2003 and Theodora’s Baby early in 2006. Her latest offering is The Art of Standing Still, Zondervan, January 2007 a novel about a community that revives its mediaeval mystery play tradition.

Penny also writes children’s poems, one of which appears in an anthology of poetry for children, On a Camel to the Moon, also published in September 2001.

In 2006 she entered the same writing competition at the Churchill Theatre and her play, Warden Pie was among the five winning plays to be performed.

She regularly provides a “Thought for the Day” on BBC Radio Kent.

She is a Vice-Chairman and a Writer Co-ordinator for the Association of Christian Writers and enjoys speaking about the writing process to writers groups and other clubs. She has spoken at Greenbelt Arts Festival and Spring Harvest’s La Pas Opton. She recently joined Actors and Writers London and hopes to have her work showcased there soon. Penny is a member of the Society of Authors.

She teaches drama and creative writing to children and young people as part of Focus on the Arts.

She also teaches part-time in a primary school.

Penny has been a Christian for as long as she can remember and her family worships in their local Anglican Church.

She is married to Marc and they have two teenage children.

Her other interests include travelling, reading, going to the theatre and working out at the local gym (apparently!).

She likes chocolate, “Red Dwarf” and unexpected acts of kindness. She dislikes celery, stick insects and people who take themselves too seriously.