Technical advisor
One day it dawned on me that I could try to combine my professional role in computer security with my long-held but extracurricular interest in creative writing. Having extensive experience of communicating complex topics at a high level, a keen eye for detail and a writer’s sensitivity to the needs of driving a plot, I put finger to keyboard with the aim of advising writers on the subject of computer security and other dark arts.
In this capacity I can give an appraisal of the technical accuracy of anything from a loose plot to a full manuscript over a number of disciplines. I can make suggestions as to how keep the plot devices doing their job but in a way that feels authentic. Obviously it’s your call how much rewriting you do – my only aim is to help you make informed decisions.
Take a look at my Testimonials page for some nice things people have said about the work I’ve done in the past.
The aim of this site is to both inspire and inform writers with interesting content in subjects that might otherwise seem esoteric and inaccessible.
A brief history of me
I have always had a passion for writing. The rejection that a friend and I received from Amblin Entertainment in response to the 8-page screenplay we sent when we were 9 didn’t put me off. At university I messed about on stage with the Footlights Dramatic Club, touring as a writer/performer with the 1997 national show, instead of studying science. My first job was at a training company as a scriptwriter, taking dry technical topics and turning them into multimedia learning packages. One of the products I wrote won Bronze at the International Visual Communication Association (now EVCOM) awards. I then hid in central government for a number of years, where I fell into computer security. In 2008 I joined a small company where I wrote and taught courses on hacking, popular with private companies and public agencies alike. I spent many years working as a ‘penetration tester’ (aka ‘white hat hacker’ aka ‘ethical hacker’), holding for a time a qualification for security testing recognised by the UK government. I have spoken at conferences and had whitepapers published on various topics. This geek streak is reserved for my technical blog at exploresecurity.com and Twitter feed @exploresecurity. I currently work full-time as a senior security engineer for Databricks, a large data and AI company.
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Disclaimer: the opinions expressed on this site represent my own and not necessarily those of my employer.
Credit: some photos from Pexels.