Victoria Twead is an Amazon, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and works in her pyjamas. After living in a remote mountain village in Spain for eleven years (and owning probably the most dangerous cockerel in Europe), Vicky and Joe emigrated to Australia to watch their new granddaughters thrive amongst kangaroos and koalas. Australia is home now and where another joyous life-chapter began.

The Old Fools series:

#1 Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools

#2 Two Old Fools - Olé!

#3 Two Old Fools on a Camel

#4 Two Old Fools in Spain Again

#5 Two Old Fools in Turmoil

#6 Two Old Fools Down Under

#7 Two Old Fools Fair Dinkum

Also two prequels: One Young Fool in Dorset and One Young Fool in South Africa.

New - the Sixpenny Cross series

A is for Abigail

B is for Bella

C is for the Captain

D-Z works in progress

Victoria explains how 'Chickens' was hatched:

"I'm famous for my lists and records. I can't help myself; I think I inherited the record-keeping gene from my father. Every day I make a note of the weather, the temperature, the first snowdrop, the day the ants fly, the exchange rate of the euro, everything. I make packing lists, holiday lists, 'To Do' lists and 'Joe, Will You Please' lists. I even make lists of lists. My nickname at work was Schindler.

Also, I have terrible difficulty throwing anything away. I find my heart racing and my fingers clamp possessively on the object in question. After all, a rusty hostess trolley, or broken watch, or a 1996 calendar, or whatever, may come in useful some day... So I rarely delete old emails and have diaries dating back years.

Both these dubious character traits of mine, for a pleasant change, proved really useful and helped 'Chickens' to hatch.

Moving to Spain was undeniably a culture shock. Every new day produced events either hilarious or heart-warming. Food suddenly tasted better, human behaviour was more fascinating, local events more interesting. It was like seeing in colour for the first time, and the book began bubbling in my head.

Of course, Joe often lost patience with me, and rightly so. 'Stop dreaming, and concentrate! Hold that ladder steady or I'm going to break a leg in a minute!' But the book was relentless. As soon as I could, I unearthed all my records, notes, old emails to friends, and began to write.

It's funny where life takes you... When I was a little girl and asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always answered, 'A zoo-keeper.' No, I never realised that ambition, but life in Spain has not been that far removed. Okay, I agree, chickens, mules and all the other animals (including humans) I wrote about may not be very exotic. But their behaviour was just as riveting as that of any grizzly bear or meerkat.

As I wrote, the book made me laugh and cry. I love Spain. I love the Spanish people. I love Spanish food. I hope all this shines through in my writing, even when I'm describing some of the less pleasant things that happened to us."