A year after finishing my Diploma, I began teacher training with the school where I had studied, Oxford TEFL Barcelona (previously Oxford House College). It was, and is, a fantastic place to work and develop as a professional. And I had never learnt so much about teaching, and my teaching, until I began to watch others. It was at this point that I started writing. I was published for the first time in iTs magazine, a great magazine for learners of English. I wrote a series of classroom activities to commemorate the International year of the Refugee (funny how things come around again in life).

Shortly after, I heard about a new website called Onestopenglish, which was running a competition called Lesson Share. I wrote in, and was overjoyed when I won. I wrote in again (won again) and again before the editor told me he had exhausted his supply of gifts and free books and would I like to write something on a regular basis? I started writing regularly for Onestopenglish in February 2002 and have been writing ever since. I've written for many different sections for Onestopenglish, but my major contribution has been the monthly Speaking lesson and Teaching Grammar section.

One thing led to another, and I eventually began to write resources and components of other courses. I have written components for Skyline, American Inside Out and Time for English. I was also the editor of biTs, a magazine for elementary learners of English. During this time, I was based in Spain, but did some teaching in the UK for a summer and in Prague as a teacher trainer.

I am a member of TESOL Spain and IATEFL. I am the newsletter editor for the Teacher Trainers and Educators Special Interest Group for IATEFL. It was through this work that I came into contact with many other teachers and trainers in the field, including Philip Kerr, the author of Straightforward Pre-intermediate. Through my work as a writer and teacher trainer I have had the chance attend and to present at many international conferences. It was at one of these conferences that I was approached to write Straightforward Elementary (I always urge my trainee teachers on Diploma courses to go to conferences - they're the best place for things to "happen").

Six years and two children after our arrival in Barcelona, my wife and I decided to move to the south of Spain for a quieter life. We now live in Elche, in the province of Alicante. I divide my time between writing, teacher training on the Trinity Diploma course with Oxford TEFL and teaching in one of the local schools here.