Leonie Martin is a published author. Her first book, Multiple Sclerosis – the Essential Guide, was launched in April 2010 to coincide with National MS Awareness Week in the UK. It is ‘the sort of book she wishes she’d been given when she was first diagnosed with MS’. She hopes it will be a positive source of information to readers. In addition to media advocacy roles for the MS Society and MS Trust, Leonie is volunteer newsletter editor for her local MS Society branch in Derbyshire. She is also co-author of an academic paper published in the Journal of Psychology and Health; the result of her collaboration with an MS Society funded study carried out by the University of Sheffield Clinical Trials Research Unit. Leonie’s articles, short stories and poetry have also been published in both local and national media. She is a regular contributor to Reflections magazine in her home town of Chesterfield and a frequent guest on BBC Radio Sheffield, where she has spoken on air about various issues that inform her writing, including her difficult childhood, volunteering with the Derbyshire Youth Offending Service, and the challenges of raising a family whilst living with a long-term neurological condition. Her latest commission is a publication of significant local interest in North East Derbyshire: 150 Years of St Mary’s Catholic High School, Chesterfield is a commemorative book to mark this historic celebration. It is due for publication in 2014. Leonie was school bursar at St Mary’s for ten years before adapting her life to work around the limits of her MS. Leonie was born in Johannesburg, S Africa, grew up in Sheffield, and now lives in Derbyshire with her husband, their teenage daughter and son, plus two wayward cats. To contact leonie please email: leonie@leoniemartin.co.uk