A Girl Called Rainbow

After two years, from concept to publication, of A Boy Called Arsenal, I made myself and my wife a promise: ‘I’m never writing another non-fiction book.’

That all changed in April 2025 when I met Emma Tomes. Within three months, the mask had been removed and Emma had become who she had always been, Rainbow.

Diagnosed at the age of forty-three as autistic, dyslexic, ADHD and with CPTSD, Rainbow wanted to tell her story. As CEO of her own company, The Mental Health People, she told me she was devoted to saving lives. When I asked her, ‘What drives and inspires you to want to save lives?’ Rainbow replied, ‘The father of my eldest son died by suicide aged thirty-two.’

It was then I knew I had to break my own promise.

This is the true and remarkable story of triumph over adversity. Of a one-woman whirlwind determined to tackle the stigma and issues caused by mental health processes and systems put in place to help but which only seem to hinder. This is the story, so far, of Rainbow Tomes.