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Summer reflections
Posted on August 10, 2026
I spent ten days in Brighton with my lovely brother who is recovering from knee-surgery. Highlights included watching Rye Lane (a sweetly funny film), The Pitt (TV hospital drama – …
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She’s braver than she knows.
Posted on June 29, 2026
I don’t know the reviewer (thank you Dr Jennifer Ward!) but this new five star review for Losing Control made my day. ***** It’s darker than it looks. It’s later …
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Stockton Transformed – Crossing the Tees
Posted on June 24, 2026
On Saturday, I went to the opening of Stockton Riverside Park. Wow! Just Wow! Stockton-on-Tees new land bridge to the river Secluded gardens …
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Exciting news
Posted on December 10, 2025
Apologies for the radio silence – work has been hectic.* But hey, you’re not here to find out about the double day jobs (that’s what LinkedIN is for) and I …
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Holiday break
Posted on September 4, 2025
I started the week with a wonderful day at the WRITE Festival in South Shields Library. What a great venue! I joined an author panel with Helen Aitchison, CJ Grayson …
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Q&A in Chemical Processing
Posted on August 11, 2025
I had a lovely chat with Traci Purdum which was published this week. 5 Quick Questions Aug. 11, 2025 Engineering professor discovers joy in teaching, hypothetically tackles Bhopal cleanup and …
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Harrogate
Posted on July 18, 2025
Greetings from Harrogate, UK where crime readers and writers from all over the world gather once a year for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival: some of the nicest …
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Getting my rights back
Posted on June 26, 2025
This week, Oneworld signed an agreement to return my publishing rights to me. It’s a major milestone in my writing journey, but also bittersweet. In 2017, I signed with my …
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It’s easy to point out what’s wrong – it takes ingenuity to fix it
Posted on June 3, 2025
I was interviewed by Hannah Dolman at the University of Cambridge for the Alumni Magazine of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. You can read the full text (with …
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Terry Deary
Posted on May 18, 2025
I’m so excited to have been invited to interview Terry Deary (of Horrible Histories fame) when he visits Back of Beyond Books. If you’ll be anywhere near Sedgefield on 24th …
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Interview in E&T
Posted on May 18, 2025
I was delighted to be interviewed by fellow author Nick Smith in Behalf of the Engineering and Technology Magazine E&T. We talk about pen names, the world of work, tools …
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Phosphate Rocks – do engineers read fiction?
Posted on May 1, 2025
May 2025 sees the start of a 52-part serialisation of my 3rd novel – Phosphate Rocks: A Death in Ten Objects. The Chemical Engineer, (TCE), the monthly magazine of the …
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