Jackie Sherman has spent most of her career in the field of education, from working as a university careers advisor to teaching IT to adults and running training courses. Over the past nine years she has written 20 books, mainly on computing, as well as various distance learning courses.

Jackie also enjoys writing general non-fiction and has a number of magazine articles published. One distance learning course on Writing Autobiography led to her running several five-week courses in the subject of local people, and several of the magazine articles were based around experiences on the narrow boat that she and her husband has a share in for a number of years. With a ling-standing interest in crafts, two years ago she decided to set up the Abingdon Craft Club.

Each week, the members work on different craft activities such as cane weaving, jewellery-making, enamelling, making candles and soap, Fimo clay work and paper crafts. To keep up with the members, Jackie has had to teach herself a range of skills and, because of an enthusiasm for cookery and the fact that the club meets in her kitchen, these have included bread making, making ice creams, sweets, jams and chutneys so she can be ready to teach these to the rest of the group.

She also tried to provide homemade cakes and biscuits on a regular basis for the coffee break. Jackie was inspired to write Making the Most of Your Glorious Glut when a member of the group brought in a large bag of runner beans. She also had a glut of courgettes, eating apples and butternut squash and began to think that many gardeners must have the same problem in not knowing what to do with their wonderful glut of vegetables.