[4] Inspired by "the thought of arguing for a living",[5] Hay initially applied for law school but became a cadet with Radio New Zealand instead, beginning work at 1ZH in Hamilton as a copywriter.

Producer Peter Blake thought "she was right for the times...after the whole punk new wave thing, the music was changing, and the programme with it.

[7] Journalist Veronica Schmidt recalled that "although the BBC plum was no longer stuffed in every announcer’s mouth, appearing with an entirely raw Kiwi accent was still unheard of".

[8] Listener writer Diana Wichtel remembered her unreconstructed Kiwi vowels as "depending on your point of view, the end of civilization as we knew it or a breath of indigenous fresh air".

In 1987, Hay moved to London with partner Andrew Fagan, ex-lead singer of rock band The Mockers.

She had wanted to throw off her previous public image but, on the promotional tour that followed, she said she felt like an imposter in a spy movie.

Reviewer Dionne Christian, writing in the NZ Herald, called The March of the Foxgloves "a funny, lively and energetic romp which delves into the underbelly of society" and said Hay "has paid close attention to the settings - London, Auckland and Tauranga - period details and historical events".

[21] Stephanie Jones found Hay "a sly and delightful wordsmith, a grand raconteur of the page, in whose hands historical fiction feels utterly current, even urgent".

[22] Her third novel, Winged Helmet, White Horse was published in New Zealand in 2018 with the NZ Listener calling Hay "a smart, gutsy writer... it’s impossible to read this book without hearing her trademark vocal delivery.

She isn’t afraid of flawed characters or loose ends, and throws in plot twists you won’t see coming.

Good at witty dialogue, she also takes a few comic and barbed pokes at middle-class life and the literary world".

In the 2020 New Year Honours, Hay was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to broadcasting and the music industry.