Born in 1949, Sue was brought up by her grandmother and had an unusual childhood. On leaving school she studied Business studies and then later joined the police, where she served in many roles for twenty-eight years, retiring as a village police officer riding a motor cycle. On retiring, she went to agricultural college and then lived for some years on an isolated smallholding in the Yorkshire Dales, keeping rare breed sheep. She worked in many different jobs, including on the railway, as a kitchen porter, a housekeeper and as a chef. She has now retired and lives in comparative comfort in the Yorkshire Wolds, and writes a weekly diary in the Yorkshire Post.