Ann Marie Thomas

Writing poetry and making up stories since she was a child, Ann only began to write for publication when her children left home. Her ambition was to write science fiction, but, fascinated by Swansea Castle and distracted by a major stroke she researched local history, an interest that culminated in the publication of her first book Alina, The White Lady of Oystermouth, a local history book told as a story, at Easter 2012. Early retirement gave her more time to concentrate on her writing. The sales of over 300 copies of Alina in local shops and museums, and at speaking engagements, led to a second local history book, Broken Reed: The Lords of Gower and King John in September 2013, and then to The Magna Carta Story: The Layman’s Guide to Magna Carta at Easter 2015. The latest book, Medieval Gower Stories, is a collection of ten other stories she found in her research, published in October 2017. The next book will be Swansea Miracle. During her stroke recovery she wrote poetry, which she published as My Stroke of Inspiration in August 2015, a surprisingly cheerful collection. She is still writing science fiction, a series called Flight of the Kestrel, and the first book Intruders was published in April 2016. The second, Alien Secrets, was published in October 2018. The third, Crisis of Conscience, was published in June 2021. Look out for book 4, Planet Fail.