About

You’ve come this far and that means you’d like to know a little more about me. So, what can I tell you?

First … yes, that’s my real hair. Oddly, it’s one of the first questions people ask when they meet me. The second is ‘can I boing one of your curls?’, to which the answer is invariably no; it’s my pet hate. I live in Glasgow with my partner and three cats. I fully qualify as a crazy cat lady, but you have to have a little crazy in life. That’s the good stuff.

I didn’t set out to become a writer, it sort of happened upon me. My current profession could be attributed to a conversation I had a few years ago with my brother-in-law. We were talking about creative outlets, him being a very creative person and me not. He told me everyone should have a creative outlet and so I set out to find mine. And find it I did.

To be inspired is great. To inspire is incredible.

We all have mediums that inspire us; books, films and music, and they all tell a story of some kind. I started out with a story I’d loved since childhood, and it went from there. You never know what you can create until, one day, you sit down and do it.

Soon, all I could think about were the worlds and characters I created. I couldn’t wait to get home from work and put it all down in print. Very simply, it made me content in a way I’d never experienced before, and I knew I wanted to do it forever. I’ve had many jobs; bar staff, shelf stocker, academic, expedition member, administrator, recruitment consultant, teacher, and there’s been good and bad in all of them. None of them filled me the way writing does.

Every fool knows you can’t reach out and touch the stars, but that doesn’t stop a wise man from trying – Harry Anderson

In 2017, I took a year out of teaching to pursue writing full-time. I returned to university to focus on creative writing, learnt how to build a website and immersed myself in the writing community. I’ve never met a more welcoming and supportive group of people, many of who have become close friends. Since then, I’ve gained qualifications in editing and proofreading, helped organise two outstanding years of QuaranCon and left teaching for good. It’s been a journey – not always happy – but we get one life, just one, and I’ve never heard of anyone on their death bed wishing they’d taken the safe option.

I am lucky to have the support of amazing people who believe in me, always telling me to go for it and have faith in myself. The world of writing and publishing is complex and becoming part of it has been a steep learning curve. I’m still learning. What I do know is that it’s achievable if you throw your heart and soul into it. That’s where my writing comes from and I hope it means as much to you as it does to me.

PS Livingstone is the author of the Transcendent Saga trilogy and various short stories. She is also an editor, proofreader, and ghostwriter, as well as a member of the Society of Authors, Chartered Institute of Editors and Proofreaders and the British Fantasy Society.