Tabitha Suzuma

Tabitha Suzuma was born in London to an English mother and a Japanese father, the eldest of five children. She attended a French school in the U.K. and grew up bilingual. However, she hated school and would sit at the back of the class and write stories, which she got away with because her teachers thought she was taking notes. Occasionally, when the boredom got too much, she would throw her friend's shoes out of the window.

Being half Japanese, Ms. Suzuma was sent to Japanese Saturday school. In the term report, the teacher commented that she would make more progress if she didn't always sit with her feet up on the desk. This still remains her favorite writing position, which is why she now writes in a reclining chair with a wireless keyboard.

At age fourteen Ms. Suzuma left school against her parents’ wishes. She got a job as an assistant dance teacher and also worked at a center for children with Cerebral Palsy, which she loved. She continued her education through distance learning and went on to study French Literature at King's College London.

After graduating, Ms. Suzuma taught English as a Foreign Language, dabbled in IT and worked as a freelance translator. She then trained as a primary school teacher and wrote her first novel, A Note of Madness, while teaching full-time.

In 2004 Ms. Suzuma left classroom teaching and began to divide her time between writing and tutoring. This gave her time to write her next four novels: From Where I Stand, Without Looking Back, A Voice in the Distance, and this one, Forbidden.

Ms. Suzuma is currently working on her sixth novel, due to be published in the U.K. in 2012.