To begin with, I’m dyslexic and I feel this has informed my life in many ways. I read my first novel at 13 – The Happy Hooker by Xaviera Hollander – stolen from my mother’s book shelf & smuggled into my all girls boarding school under a Woman in White cover. It opened my eyes, literally, and I was then hooked on all those worlds to be found hidden in the pages of books.

My mother read to me until I was 10 and I tried to write short stories and terrible poetry from a young age. The best bit was the illustrating. At primary school we had to draw a picture and then write about it underneath.

Because of my learning difficulties I left school with few qualifications & went to London to get a job. Downtime was art. I’m a self taught mixed media artist. When I make art my head fills with stories. I dream the stories too & keep a log of all the ideas.

At about 45 it suddenly hit me – I kept telling myself ‘one day I’ll write a book’ – if I didn’t start right then it might never happen. Now I’ve written my book; a psychological thriller which won Kindle Scout, who published the ebook for me – I’m writing my 2nd book, also a psychological thriller, and I am building notes for my 3rd book. Plus all the others jostling for space in my head.

Jo Ullah likes to write books about ordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances. A thread of the supernatural is stitched within her tales because all of us, whether we want to admit to it or not, have been touched by something not quite natural in our daily lives.