I was born on the Equator in the hottest part of the year, and I have a passion for hats. I wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I was educated in Bristol, Oxford, Africa and a tiny village in rural Cambridgeshire which no one then or since has ever heard of, which made me long to live somewhere better known when I grew up. I now live in central London, where my many hats are regularly aired, and have worked as a stills photographer, costume designer and film-maker as well as a writer. Of the novels I've written 'Chase the Moon' is my favourite, because it has the happiest ending. It's a homage to all the books I most loved as a child, when I always checked the last page of a story before I began reading, to make sure the hero or heroine was headed for a safe harbour. I wrote 'Chase the Moon' to thank the many readers who had bought my first book, Miss Nobody, written under the pseudonym Caroline Ross, because they had made it possible for me to chase what had previously seemed an impossible dream, to raise a family of my own.This family now includes artist husband Laurence and two sons: Dan Parmenter, a multi-media designer and Alan Parmenter, a concert violinist. By burrowing under the pavement, converting entrance hall, corridor and cellar into bedrooms, painting in the garden and writing in a cupboard, we've managed to concertina a family of four into what was originally a one-bedroom flat. I'm also a member of the Chelsea Arts Club, and like James Thurber, have never been beaten at Fan Tan!