About me

I am a full-time writer, balancing book-writing with some journalism (including as the science fiction reviewer for New Scientist magazine).

Previously I was editor-in-chief of New Scientist, the world’s most popular science magazine. I did that job for five years, and before that I was a journalist on the Guardian for 16 years. You can read more about my journalistic career here, should you be so inclined.

Alongside my journalism career, I have always had a deep interest in prehistory and the earliest days of recorded history, and I have been lucky enough to skivvy on some digs, including one of a Bronze Age city in the east of Crete.

I've also, since childhood, written stories, but never completed a novel. Then in 2019 I re-read the Epic of Gilgamesh, and was deeply struck by Inanna, the goddess who slides through it as a secondary character. I wondered if I might be able to write Inanna an epic of her own, and the pandemic gave me the time and space to make a proper start of it.

I left New Scientist early in 2024 to concentrate on my novels, and the third and final book of the Sumerians, Ninshubar, has now been published. I'll post details here on my two new projects as soon as I am free to do so.

I live in Dorset with my family and dog Argos, and in my free time I roam the fields around our home looking for prehistoric stone tools. I'm also interested in ice age art and if you would like to join me on a tour of the palaeolithic caves of northern Spain or France in 2026 please do let me know and I'll send you details when I have them. Please check your spam for replies to messages sent via this website.

You can read interviews with me (on my publishing journey and research process) on Grimdark here and Fantasy Hive here.