Gil McNeil has worked in advertising, the film business and publishing. Her second novel, Stand By Your Man, was published by Bloomsbury in July 2004. Her first, The Only Boy for Me, was published by Bloomsbury in 2001 and was a bestseller in paperback in 2002. It has been optioned by Greenpoint Films and is due to be screened on ITV as a two-hour drama in spring 2005. Gil McNeil lives in Kent with her son.