ʃiː wˈɜːkt æt bˌiːbˌiːsˈiː ɹˈeɪdɪˌoʊ fˈoːɹ fɔːɹ tˈuː jˈɪɹz ɪn lˈʌndən, pɹədˈuːsɪŋ ɪts ðˈɛn ˈɑːɹts mˌæɡɐzˈiːn kəlˈaɪdəskˌoʊp, bᵻfˌoːɹ tɹˈævəlɪŋ ɐɡˈɛn, ðɪs tˈaɪm ˌoʊvɚlˈænd θɹuː nˈɔːɹθ, sˈɛntɹəl ænd sˈaʊθ ɐmˈɛɹɪkə, ɐ tɹˈɪp ðæt bɪkˌeɪm ɹᵻsˈɜːtʃ mətˈɪɹiəl fɔːɹ hɜː fˈɜːst sˈoʊloʊ nˈɑːvəl snˈoʊ stˈoːɹmz ɪn hˈɑːt klˈaɪmət nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd ˈeɪɾi ˈeɪt, ɐ θɹˈɪlɚɹ ɐbˌaʊt ðɪ ˈɜːli koʊkˈeɪn tɹˈeɪd ɪn kəlˈʌmbiə.
She worked at BBC Radio 4 for two years in London, producing its then arts magazine Kaleidoscope, before travelling again, this time overland through North, Central and South America, a trip that became research material for her first solo novel Snow Storms in Hot Climate (1988), a thriller about the early cocaine trade in Colombia.