P.J. Skinner is a contemporary fiction author who writes under several pen names, including P.J. Skinner, Pip Skinner, Kate Foley, and Jessica Parkin. She is best known for her "Sam Harris Adventure" series of novels, which features a female geologist as the protagonist in a male-dominated world. Skinner's own background in exploration geology, where she managed remote sites and conducted due diligence on projects in over thirty countries, has greatly influenced her writing. She has used her experiences in remote and dangerous places to inspire the stories in the Sam Harris series.
In addition to the Sam Harris series, Skinner has also written a mystery series set in a seaside town in England, known as the Seacastle Mysteries. This series was inspired by her love of classic crime and mystery novels, such as those written by Agatha Christie. She has also written a sci-fi mystery, Mortal Mission, under the name Pip Skinner, and a children's picture book series under the name Jessica Parkin. Skinner's writing is diverse, spanning multiple genres and targeting different age groups.
Skinner has been writing for nearly ten years and has published her work independently. She moved to a small town on the south coast of England just before the Covid pandemic and has been writing full-time since then. Skinner's writing process is that of a "pantser," meaning she doesn't plan out her stories in detail before writing. Instead, she lets the story unfold as she writes, making for an interesting and dynamic writing experience, especially when writing mysteries. She uses independent designers for her cover designs, aiming to fit each cover to the appropriate genre.