[1] Tanya continued on to study English literature at Liverpool University, after which she held jobs at a zoo, an arts center, and a children's bookshop.

[3] Tanya was a fan of Penelope Lively's novels in which the past seeps into the present, most hauntingly in Astercote and The House in Norham Gardens but to great humorous effect in The Ghost of Thomas Kempe.

She writes for a wide age range of readers, but her young adult historical thrillers are arguably her most well-known works.

[5] North Devon's striking coastline served as inspiration for both the historical thriller Hell and High Water and her Flotsam & Jetsam trilogy.

[6] With her husband, Rod Burnett, two boys, Isaac and Jack, a Siamese cat, and two Labradors, she currently resides in North Devon.