I read English Literature at University College London and at Dartmouth College in the USA. After working as a bookseller, in 1986 I joined the publishers Macdonald Futura as a children’s book editor. Subsequently I worked for Harlequin/Mills & Boon and Penguin Books, where I was an editorial director. In 1997 I became a literary agent, joining Sheil Land Associates, where I worked for eight years before setting up LBA in 2005. I have been personally responsible for discovering and launching the careers of many bestselling authors. In 2010 I was awarded the prestigious title of Literary Agent of the Year.

I love discovering new writers and regularly run competitions to find them. Since 2016 I have run the First Novel Competition competition with the Daily Mail, winners of which have gained major publishing contracts with Random House, Transworld and Little, Brown. I have strong links with television and broadcasting and many of my authors have seen their works optioned by major studios. In 2019 I became the only literary agent ever appointed by the BBC to represent their audio output. I love commercial fiction across all genres, as well as intelligent non-fiction written for a commercial audience, and am always on the lookout for authors who aspire to hit the bestseller list.