I work part-time as a lecturer in MMU's journalism department and I am also a freelance journalist, writing stories for national newspapers and magazines.
I started my journalism career on student press at the University of Sheffield, where I studied English and French. After winning two student journalism awards I got a job on the Mirror Group's three-year graduate training programme, where I covered news and features for the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People at their offices in Dublin, Belfast, Manchester and London.
I then moved on to the Press Association where I sourced and wrote exclusive features for a range of newspapers and magazines before moving to The Sun as a staff features writer, where I spent almost seven years covering all kinds of features, from celebrity interviews to real-life and news-led reporting.
I love combining teaching with freelance journalism, as I enjoy sharing my skills, industry experience and contacts with students, as well as guiding them in learning how to become top-class journalists.
Journalism is a fantastic career for anyone who is interested in what's going on around them. It allows you to meet your heroes, travel the world and make a real difference to your community.
I want to share my enthusiasm for journalism - and particularly feature writing - with the next generation of writers and reporters, and teach them how to get on in a competitive industry.