Helen Pugh is the author of Unsung Women in Somerset, a collection of short stories focussing on real-life and legendary women who lived, loved, worked and struggled in Somerset.

Her other works include Intrepid Dudettes of the Inca Empire, an accessible non-fiction historical account of incredible Inca women who lived hundreds of years ago. For children, she has written Jungle-tastic Tales and Inca-tastic Tales, short story anthologies for children based on extensive research into the rainforest and Inca history, respectively, as well as Cuentos incatásticos for Spanish speakers.

Her interest in South America and the Incas began in 2006, when she first went to Ecuador. Then, from 2011 she lived there for 7 continuous years, 6 in the Amazon Region and 1 in Quito. Her children are half Ecuadorian, which was another driving force for exploring South American heritage. She experienced domestic violence and very long and traumatic legal battles in Ecuador so can relate to some of the Inca women in the book on that front.

Helen studied Spanish and Italian at university and has a lifelong passion for history, especially that of historical women who made history, but have been sidelined.