Our weekly columnist leads a varied life as a mother, writer and gin drinker (in that order!)

Liz Dawes was educated at grammar school until she hit her late teens, when her parents made the inexplicable decision to send their hormonal daughter to the sixth form of an otherwise all boys public school.

Faced with a gaggle of spotty youths whose only experience of females was a weekly scrap with their little sister, Liz hid under a pile of books, emerging two years later to study law at St John’s College, Oxford.

Though she longed for a career as a writer, Liz was persuaded not to “throw away her expensive education”, and a career in the City of London followed.  It culminated in a role as Deputy General Counsel for an asset management company, with a particular expertise in hedge funds, for which she can never apologise enough.

Liz gave up the bright lights of the city to pursue her love of writing after the birth of her second child.  She is now a freelance writer, a weekly columnist for Fighting Fifty and is working on her first novel. 

Liz lives in South East London where she is a single parent to two young children.  She spends her spare time reading, singing, fostering dogs and drinking gin.  You can find her on Facebook and Twitter, provided you don’t mind the swearing.