Irene Black graduated from Manchester University some time last century. She has always been a writer at heart but for pragmatic reasons (ie the need to earn a living) pursued a career as a research psychologist in New York (working on the Apollo Space Mission), Melbourne and Surrey for several years until she saw the light. For the next twenty years she juggled her role as a Mum to two young 'uns with a career as a schoolteacher (German and as little French as she could get away with). She ended up as head of languages at a large comprehensive school in Surrey and managed to escape to early retirement in 1999 by injuring her back whilst horse-riding. Since then she has combined her writing career with running a small Internet antiques and collectibles business and helping her daughter-in-law sell Thai handicrafts. She also accompanies her husband for several months at a time to a science institute in South India where she writes, teaches German to graduate students, and studies Hindu temples.

Her non-writing passions include travel, classical music and the art history of the Indian Subcontinent and beyond. She is currently midway through her MA in Indian Temple Architecture at De Montfort University in Leicester.

Irene writes novels, short stories and poetry. She has completed her novel The Moon's Complexion, a romantic thriller set in India which aims to offer a bridge across the cultural and religious divide in which we live. She has won several prizes for her short stories and poetry and published a number of articles on writing.

Contact her by email at blacks.house@ntlworld.com

Copyright © Irene Black