Helen is a writer of fiction and non-fiction who studied linguistics and psychology at Victoria University, then taught English as a second language for 20 years in Ireland, England, Japan, China, and New Zealand. She has travelled through 30 countries, mostly by train, and is good at studying a new language in the carriage before crossing the border, and forgetting it completely on the journey out. She currently works as a copyeditor of psychology journal articles, editor of fiction, academic writing teacher, and writer.