My blog

Coming soon – new editions of the Jaq Silver Adventures

Posted on July 3, 2025

I wrote last week about getting the rights back to the four Jaq Silver thrillers, and my mixed emotions about leaving my first traditional publisher. Now it’s full steam ahead. …

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 …

A Love Letter to New Zealand

Posted on March 7, 2025

I knew that New Zealand would be chock full of amazing places, but I was unprepared for how vast, how varied or how beautiful it is. Milford Sound, South Island, …

Author Chat with Caroline Maston – UK Crime Book Club

Posted on January 15, 2025

On Friday 10th January I had a one hour chat with Caroline Maston from the UK Crime Book Club. You can see and listen to the recording here Among many …

Starting 2025 with an apology

Posted on January 2, 2025

Happy New Year! I have an apology to make. I’ve been ignoring you. After redesigning my author website (with the invaluable assistance of Simon Appleby at Bookswarm), I then neglected …

Revisiting Bhopal

Posted on November 20, 2023

In August 2023 I travelled to Bhopal, India to revisit the former Union Carbide Factory, site of the world’s worst chemical accident. In the four decades since the accident in …

The one thing we can all agree on

Posted on August 11, 2023

1 Book Review Why are women still so poorly represented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths? Does it matter? What are the obstacles? How do we change things? Athene Donald …

Bond Boys

Posted on May 30, 2020

Part II – Is it time for a few Bond boys? My debut thriller, The Chemical Detective, was described as ‘an audacious, female-led thriller which took the disposable women of …

A Female James Bond

Posted on February 2, 2020

Part I – Is it time for a female James Bond? “Is nothing sacred?” meowed Spike the cat, official representative of the men in my life. “Your sex has appropriated …

Banqiao

Posted on October 20, 2018

To read about my visit to the Banqiao Dam in Henan Province, China, in September 2018, click here On 8th of August 1975, about one hour after midnight, the Banqiao …

The Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Posted on October 20, 2018

On 3rd December 1984, not long after midnight, a runaway reaction in a pesticide factory released toxic gases which blew over the sleeping town of Bhopal, capital of the state …

#SmashStereotypesToBits In a recent campaign to encourage careers in engineering, a group of female engineers stage an epic pillow fight involving catapults, explosions and drones. I watched the IET video and found …