I'm an author of comic urbane fantasy with a steampunk twist – the Parasol Protectorate series, beginning with Soulless. I began writing in order to cope with being raised in obscurity by an expatriate Brit and an incurable curmudgeon. I escaped small town life and inadvertently acquired several degrees in Higher Learning. Then I traveled the historic cities of Europe, subsisting entirely on biscuits secreted in my handbag. I now resides in the Colonies, surrounded by a harem of Armenian lovers, where I insist on tea imported from London.