Book 16 in my EJ12 Girl Hero series is released this month. In a special flashback mission, TIME TO SHINE takes readers back to when eight year-old Emma Jacks was first recruited to the SHINE Agency. SHINE recognises and nurtures its young agents’ potential, giving them both the skills and spirit to do amazing things – it gives them their time to shine.

Which is I always wanted the series to do as well, in its own little way. I wanted it to show young girls, like my daughter, Emma, who was nine when I began the series, that they could do pretty much anything – and particularly things they might have thought only the boys could do. They could jump out of planes, indeed, fly the planes, drive the train, crack the codes, save the world, follow their hearts and their dreams.

And it’s so happy-making when they email saying that the series has inspired them, help them overcome their fear of the dark, of singing at a school concert or, best of all, standing up to a mean girl, probably one of the most heroic thing you can do when you are nine years old.

Which has got me thinking that we need to make more of the many excellent ‘girl hero’ female role models for our girls so I’m going to start a regular post on the ej12girlhero.com blog, telling the girls about the girl heroes of history and today – and to encourage them to find more.

Who should feature? Amelia Earhart, Malala Yousafzai, Mother Teresa, Evonne Cawley, Helen Keller, Marie Curie are some that spring to mind – who else?