About Merrydale's Corner
Merrydale's Corner has literally lived in Olivia's mind for a very long time.
It stands for the real place where you sit down and share a story, but it also represents the abstract space of storytelling and musings, that tiny corner - invisible to others - in her mind where stories live and new ones come into being.
This website with its different pages is an invitation to explore some of the different aspects of Olivia's world.
About Olivia
Olivia grew up in a village by the sea. Coming from a family of gardeners and with a mother fond of storytelling, she was very excited when she was finally able to read by herself and immerse herself in a world of books and stories. She has an MA in English Literature.
Olivia worked in cafes, as a support worker for people with learning difficulties, a teaching assistant in an SEN unit and taught in secondary schools. After a stint in a marketing company she now works in a bank where she spends her days trying to solve conundrums for her clients.
In her spare time she loves to read, go for walks, drink tea, listen to music, garden, watch wildlife, explore the coast and countryside, write and attempt the odd sketch.
Rosie and the Secret of Snogard is her first novel. Its landscape was strongly influenced by that of Orkney, the Inner Hebrides and Shetland.
About Traigh Ban
Traigh Ban came into being to allow Rosie & Fridolin's world a chance to be introduced to readers.
The name takes its inspiration from Scottish Gaelic references to the white beaches and fair sands found in so many unexpected places; especially in the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland. The waves of the sea connect these shores in a similar way that the impressions of the various seascapes combined in Olivia's mind to become the world of Rosie and the Secret of the Snogard.
About Bernd
Bernd was an ardent gardener by profession and dedication but also always interested in the arts.
He used pencil and biro when drawing, painted with oil and watercolour and experimented with acrylic.
His keen eye made him a skilled amateur photographer, capturing the beauty of the landscape he lived in.
He illustrated five books in total. Rosie and the Secret of the Snogard was his one international work and a departure from his usual style.
He enjoyed the challenge of crafting the individual vignettes for each chapter to fit in with the story.
The boy we first meet in Chapter 3, "The Sleeper in the Garden", was his favourite character and this drawing of Bernd's is the perfect illustration for both.
