Sam Michaels writes gangland sagas set in Battersea, South London, which is where she was born and bred, the council estates being her playground. After leaving school at sixteen with no qualifications, she later became an analytical scientist and then went into technical sales, where she met her husband. A few years later, they moved from Hampshire to Spain. It was then that her mother, the Sunday Times best-selling author, Kitty Neale, inspired Sam to put pen to paper. She now writes her novels in sunnier climates with the company of her husband, four dogs and six cats.