Alison Leonard was born in 1944. She studied psychology and philosophy at Edinburgh University and then became a social worker with deprived and disturbed children. She started writing for teenagers in 1975, and has since written stories for younger children, radio plays for the BBC, plays for the theatre, and drama for young people and mixed age-groups, as well as running writing courses in the UK and abroad. Her life as a writer interweaves with a lifelong preoccupation with spirituality. As well writing biographical accounts of spiritual journeys and doing occasional broadcasts on spiritual themes, she also runs courses in spiritual development and spiritual autobiography. Alison is a member of the Society of Authors and the National Association of Writers in Education, and is married with two adult daughters.