Emily Bearn was born in London, and has been a journalist since the age of 20 when she joined the staff of Harpers & Queen magazine. She then worked for a year as a diary reporter on The Times, before becoming a commissioning editor, and subsequently a senior interviewer, on the Sunday Telegraph. She became freelance in 2005 following the birth of her daughter, Freya.
The idea for the Tumtum and Nutmeg books was sparked one evening when, while feeding her baby in the kitchen, she saw two tiny mice scuttling across the floor, then disappearing behind the skirting next to the cooker. She started to wonder what sort of life the mice led behind the skirting board, and slowly the plot for the first Tumtum and Nutmeg book came to life.
She and her daughter live in Hammersmith, and still share their house with two (very helpful) mice.
