Fiona Erskine

Engineer. Writer. Swimmer.

News & events

Space

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 …

Read more

Adventures in Sicily

Posted on September 18, 2025

I promised some images from my swimtrek holiday – here’s a selection https://fionaerskine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sicily-swim-video-1-2025-09-08-18-33-19.mp4 https://fionaerskine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sicily-swim-video-2.mp4 More at https://fionaerskine.substack.com/p/sulphur-and-salt

Read more

At last…

Posted on September 18, 2025

Three months after I recovered my rights from Oneworld, I’m delighted to confirm that the Jaq Silver quartet is now available again in full – in ebook and print (under …

Read more

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 …

Read more

Jaq Silver Thriller Series available again

Posted on August 21, 2025

The fourth book in the Jaq Silver series is now available on-line in paperback under the Snickered Mole imprint. A gold star to anyone who unpicks the anagram. This might …

Read more
Students at Sheffield University

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 …

Read more

Brazil

Posted on July 30, 2025

The third title in the Jaq Silver series is now online. The Chemical Cocktail was first published by Oneworld (Point Blank) in 2022 and follows Jaq’s search for a missing …

Read more

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 …

Read more
The Chemical Reaction book cover

The Chemical Reaction

Posted on July 8, 2025

I’m delighted to confirm that the The Chemical Reaction is available once again as an e-book. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chemical-Reaction-Silver-Thrillers-Book-ebook/dp/B0FG888WWH A prize to anyone who spots the subtle changes…(or indeed any formatting mistakes). …

Read more

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 …

Read more
The prolific Northern Crime Syndicate and the covers of their books

June 2025 – A Month of Crime

Posted on June 10, 2025

Update: Unfortunately the Crossing The Tees Festival event with Jess Kidd due to take place on Friday 13th June at Acklam Library has been cancelled. June is National Crime Reading …

Read more

Itโ€™s easy to point out whatโ€™s wrong โ€“ 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 …

Read more


Sunny southern sojourn with friends and family and a stonkingly good book. London looking stunning!


In Houston for the day job, I went back to visit my old house and primary school from when my dad had a sabbatical at Rice University. Fleming park is much smaller than I remember but the fire ants are still there! Highlight was a full Tex-Mex with Theresa and Bhopal expert Kenneth Bloch - plans afoot for a new book.


I swam 24km in 5 days. Hard work?

Try tuna canning, salt drying or sulphur mining...

https://fionaerskine.substack.com/p/sulphur-and-salt


Goodbye #egadiislands and thank you @swimtrek for an amazing week - 24 kilometres with wonderful guides, fellow swimmers and multicoloured fishes!


This week #PhosphateRocks e-book is only ยฃ0.99 in UK

Who doesn't love a story about a demolition gone wrong? @raine_clouds_writes @lesleykellyauthor 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Phosphate-Rocks-Death-Ten-Objects-ebook/dp/B0CTRRXKNY

PS: The audio book narrated by @rain.goblin is pretty special too


A quarter of my sales this month were overseas for the very first time!

Massive thanks to all those fine Canadians for topping the list. Say Hi if you see this.

https://fionaerskine.com/


On my way to Harrogate today

https://open.substack.com/pub/fionaerskine/p/harrogate

Say hello if you'll be there


What makes the perfect handbag and how much is it worth?

https://fionaerskine.substack.com/p/the-perfect-handbag


Follow me on Instagram

I have news!
Stellar thanks to @SFcrowsnest for a stirring introduction - to #TheLye and to #agentjarrold for his immense courage. Watch this spaceโ€ฆ

Novelist Carolyn Kirby discusses the apparently radical shift in menโ€™s fashions during the late 18th century and the invention of the โ€˜masculineโ€™ style that still dominates menswear. https://historiamag.com/invent-masculine-fashion/ via @HistoriaHWA

I have news. Exciting news...
https://fionaerskine.com/news-item/exciting-news/

Have you had a look at the brilliant Ravenglass by Carolyn Kirby yet?

Following a gender fluid character making their way in 1700s Whitehaven, this emotional and beautifully written globe trotting adventure is available with 25% off this Christmas!
https://share.google/AvrhJUHaVtFa9TVnK

Happiness is a train journey with a seat and a good book #lner #thesaltoracle

Excellent post - thank you @GalleyBeggars @GonzaloCGarcia

Ongoing serialisation of
#PhosphateRocks continues as the mystery deepens
Chapter 27: Broken Sunglasses - Features - The Chemical Engineer - https://goo.gl/alerts/EVCA3x #GoogleAlerts @IChemE

So pleased with this great spread in December's @WritingMagazine ๐Ÿ˜ #histfic

Follow me on X

All my books