Bookouture - digital publisher of brilliant fiction
Alex Sinclair
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Alex Sinclair is a thirty-two-year-old psychological thriller author from a quiet country town outside of Melbourne, Australia. He currently works full-time for a small business and writes in the early hours of the morning before his daughter and wife wake up for the day. Alex has a background in IT, bookkeeping, and 3D animation. He loves all things creative but especially loves writing. He is an avid reader of all genres, but loves psychological thrillers more than anything else. He also has a passion for good storytelling in all forms of media such as addictive TV shows and movies.
ALI MERCER
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
I live in Oxfordshire with my husband and our two children. I decided I wanted to be a writer pretty much as soon as I learned the word, and attempted my first novel when I was at primary school. I studied English at University College, Oxford in the early 90s, then worked in educational publishing before doing a diploma in journalism at Cardiff University. I moved to London to work as a journalist and landed a job as a reporter at The Stage. I began writing fiction in earnest after starting a family and moving to Abingdon. I also work part-time in publishing locally. My son is autistic, and was diagnosed in 2011. The following year my novel Stop the Clock was published by Transworld, followed by After I Left You in 2014.
ALISON JAMES
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
I was born in the Cotswolds but spent most of my formative years abroad.I studied languages at Oxford than became a CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR. I was born in the Cotswolds but spent most of my formative years abroad.I studied languages at Oxford. then became a journalist and author.returning to university after my two children to take a low degree.After a three year stint as a criminal paralegal. I worked as a commercial copy writer and then a TV story liner. before coming full circle to write fiction again.
AMY MILLER
SAGA AUTHOR
Amy Miller is the pseudonym of Amy Bratley, who started her writing life working on magazines and newspapers. She has previously written three women’s fiction novels published by Pan Macmillan, the first of which was a bestseller in Italy. Her day job is being a freelance managing editor of both a vintage interiors magazine and a food magazine, two subjects she’s passionate about. Amy lives in Dorset with her husband and two children.
ANGELA MARSONS
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Angela lives in the heart of the Black Country with her long-term partner, Julie, two bouncy Golden Retrievers and a potty-mouthed African Grey parrot. It has taken many novels to find that one character who just refused to go away. And so D.I. Kim Stone was born. The Detective Kim Stone series has now sold over 3.5 million copies, repeatedly hitting the Number One spot on the Kindle bestseller charts and has been translated into more than twenty-eight languages.
ANGELA PETCH
HISTORICAL FICTION AUTHOR
I’m an award winning writer of fiction – and the occasional poem. Every summer I move to Tuscany for six months where my husband and I own a renovated watermill which we let out. When not exploring our unspoilt corner of the Apennines, I disappear to my writing desk at the top of our converted stable. In my Italian handbag or hiking rucksack I always make sure to store notebook and pen to jot down ideas. The winter months are spent in Sussex where most of our family live. When I’m not helping out with grandchildren, I catch up with writer friends.
ANN BENNETT
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Ann is the author of three books about the second world war in South East Asia, inspired by her father’s experience as a prisoner of the Japanese on the Thai-Burma railway. Ann has a Law degree and works full time as a lawyer, but is fascinated by India and South East Asia. Since her early twenties she has spent as much time as possible travelling in the region. She is married with three sons and live in Surrey.
ANNA MANSELL
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Anna spent almost twenty years trying to shoehorn writing in to her career as a marketing manager for dance and theatre companies. Eventually, she did what you are not remotely supposed to do and walked away from an excellent job in order to try and become a published author. Three years, lots of tears and some slightly hairy bank balances later, she met Kirsty Greenwood and the rest, as they say, is history. Anna lives in Cornwall with her husband and two kids. She feels very fortunate!
ANNA MCKERROW
ADULT COMMERCIAL FANTASY AUTHOR
Anna McKerrow has written poetry, children’s and adult books. She lives in London and is originally from the West Country, which gave her accent a subtle (yet noticeable) pirate twang as well as a love of cream teas and all things mystical. She is an eclectic pagan witch and feminist who also loves crocheting blankets while watching episodes of Miss Marple. Anna loves mythology, magic, tarot, punk, grunge, rock and alternative music, fantasy and sci-fi novels, travel, luxury skincare products, chocolate, spas, candlelight and stormy beaches. She owns the requisite witchy black cat.
ANNA-LOU WEATHERLEY
CONTEMPORARY WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Anna-Lou began her career as a dancer but a moped accident in Ibiza put paid to those aspirations and so she went back to her first and one true love – writing! She re-trained as a journalist, specialising mainly in women’s interest and celebrity, becoming the Editor of J-17 and Smash Hits as well as writing for a host of women’s magazines. Anna-Lou has written three Adult Fiction titles – Vengeful Wives and Wicked Wives, both published by Avon in the UK and Bookouture in the US and Canada and Pleasure Island published by Bookouture.
ARLENE HUNT
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Arlene spent her childhood with ‘my nose buried in a book’. She was a fierce debate-captain in school and her love of language was bound to lead her to writing. Alongside being an author, she writes, edits and reviews briefs for radio. Arlene is married with one daughter and lives with a crotchety one-eyed cat named Binkley and a German Shepherd named Archer, who is not at all crotchety.
BARBARA COPPERTHWAITE
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
The people behind the crime, from the perpetrator to the victim and beyond, are what intrigue Barbara Copperthwaite. She was raised by the sea and in the countryside, where she became a lover of both nature and the written word – the latter leading to a successful career as a journalist. For over twenty years people have kindly and bravely shared with her their real experiences of being victims of crime. Now, through fiction, Barbara continues to explore the emotional repercussions.
BETH MILLER
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Beth Miller is the author of two novels and two non-fiction titles, including For the Love of The Archers. She has worked as a sexual health trainer, a journalist and a psychology lecturer and is now a mentor and book coach. Beth is a member of the Prime Writers, has a PhD in Psychology, and is a world class drinker of tea.
BETTY ROWLANDS
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Betty Rowlands burst on to the crime scene in her mid-sixties by winning the Sunday Express / Veuve Clicquot Crime Short Story of the Year Competition. Her success continued with her bestselling Melissa Craig mysteries featuring a crime writer who solves mysteries in the Cotswolds. She has lived in the heart of the Cotswolds, where her Melissa Craig mysteries are set, and now in Bristol. Now in her mid-nineties she enjoys reading a wide range of books, but is no longer writing. She is delighted that her Melissa Craig books are enjoying a resurgence into the cozy crime scene. She is the mother of three children, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Photo by ©David Taylor.
BROOKE HARRIS
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Brooke Harris grew up wanting to be a Disney Princess. As it turns out, adult life is more complicated than cartons lead her to believe. A mother of five young children and a full-time writer, Brooke wouldn’t swap her chaotic life for a castle and crown. Well, not most days. Brooke writes emotionally lead Women’s Fiction. She is very grateful to the readers who have helped her to become a USA Today best seller.
C.J. DAUGHERTY
YA FICTION AUTHOR
C. J. Daugherty was 22 when she saw her first dead body. Although she’s now left the world of crime reporting she has never lost her fascination with what it is that drives some people to do awful things as well as the kind of people who will try to stop them. The international bestselling Night School series is the product of that fascination.
CARLA KOVACH
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Carla started writing more seriously ten years ago after having flirted with musical theatre and occasional writing in her youth. Since then she has written & produced several stage plays, has four self-published books, has acted in several independent films and is currently in the final stages of production of her feature horror film, Penny for the Guy. She now writes full time as well as co-owning a film, photography & video production company located in the heart of Redditch town centre.
CAROL WYER
WOMEN'S FICTION AND CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Carol Wyer garnered a loyal following as an author of romantic comedies, and won The People’s Book Prize Award for non-fiction (2015). In 2017 she stepped from comedy to the “dark side” and embarked on a series of thrillers, featuring the popular DI Robyn Carter, which earned her recognition as a crime writer. The Staffordshire-based writer now has more crime novels in the pipeline, although she can still sometimes be found performing her stand-up comedy routine Laugh While You Still Have Teeth.
CAROLINE MITCHELL
THRILLER AUTHOR
Originally from Ireland, Caroline lives with her family and two dogs in a pretty village on the coast of Essex. A former police detective, Caroline has worked in CID and specialised in roles dealing with vulnerable victims, high-risk victims of domestic abuse, and serious sexual offences. A USA Today best seller, she now writes full time.
CASEY KELLEHER
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Born in Cuckfield, West Sussex, Casey Kelleher grew up as an avid reader and a huge fan of author Martina Cole. Whilst working as a beauty therapist and bringing up her three children together with her Husband, Casey penned her debut novel Rotten to the Core. Its success meant that she could give up her day job and concentrate on writing full time.
CASEY WILSON
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Casey Wilson is the author of A Dog’s Hope and A Dog’s Chance, published with Bookouture. Born and raised in the United States in Nevada, she is the owner of a gorgeous golden retriever, who may or may not have inspired the dogs in her novels. She also writes under her real name Tammy L Grace.
CATHERINE MILLER
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
When Catherine Miller became a mum to twins, she decided her hands weren’t full enough so wrote a novel with every spare moment she managed to find. By the time the twins were two, Catherine had a two-book deal with Carina UK. Her debut novel, Waiting For You, came out in March 2016. Catherine was a NHS physiotherapist, but for health reasons she retired early from this career. As she loved her physiotherapy job, she decided if she couldn’t do that she would pursue her writing dream. It took a few years and a couple of babies, but in 2015 she won the Katie Fforde bursary, was a finalist in the London Book Fair Write Stuff Competition and highly commended in Woman magazine’s writing competition. Since then she’s had four novels published.
CERI A. LOWE
DYSTOPIAN YA AUTHOR
When Ceri isn’t writing, she’s a self-employed project management consultant specialising in financial services. She lives with her partner in Bristol, England and has various obsessions including all things Spanish, travelling and, of course, writing. In the last two years she’s won the Global Short Stories annual prize, the Flash 500 Award, the Story Star Publishing Prize and the Writers’ Forum Short Story competition.
CHRIS MERRITT
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Chris Merritt is a Clinical Psychologist and former diplomat based in London, who has been writing on psychology since 2010. In 2014 he decided to combine his passion for writing with his love of crime fiction, and eventually came up with The Murder List, his debut novel. He currently works on a mental health research project at King’s College London, and part-time as a psychologist in the NHS. When not working or writing, he loves climbing and basketball, and dreams of one day being able to work from home enough to own a whippet.
CHRISTIE BARLOW
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Christie Barlow was born in Cheshire and had a successful career as a civil servant until she decided to trade it in for something more glamorous: ironing, mucking out chickens and horses and chasing a mad cocker spaniel while rearing four children. Christie wrote her debut novel, A Year in the Life of a Playground Mother, as an example to her kids about realising their dreams.
CLAIRE SEEBER
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Claire Seeber is a Londoner who started her professional life as a (bad) actress and went on to become a documentary maker, lucky enough to travel the world meeting amazing people. Also writing features for newspapers such as the Guardian and Independent, when she had her first baby in 2004, Claire started writing psychological thrillers. The Observer called her first novel, Lullaby, ‘a disturbing debut’ whilst the Guardian called it ‘powerful’. Her third thriller Never Tell became a bestseller, and her six novels have been published in more than twelve different languages. Claire has been CWA Dagger-nominated, also writes for stage and screen, and today studies psychotherapy, as well as (trying to) manage a home of slightly feral children and animals. Luckily her very nice partner helps too.
CLARE BOYD
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Clare lives with her husband and their two daughters in Surrey, where her little green shed at the bottom of the garden provides a haven for her writing life. Before becoming a writer, she enjoyed a career in television, as a researcher in documentaries and then as a script editor in drama at the BBC and Channel Four, where her love of storytelling took hold.
CLARE CHASE
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Clare Chase writes mysteries set in her home city of Cambridge and is fascinated by the location’s contrasts and contradictions. She’s worked in diverse settings – from the 800-year-old University to one of the local prisons – and lived everywhere from the house of a Lord to a slug-infested flat. The terrace she now occupies presents a good happy medium. As well as writing, Clare loves family time, art and architecture, cooking, and of course, reading other people’s books. She lives with her husband and teenage children, and currently works at the Royal Society of Chemistry.
COLLEEN COLEMAN
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Colleen Coleman is an Irish-Canadian novelist. She is the winner of the much-coveted Novelicious Undiscovered People’s Choice Award launched to find the next ‘chick-lit star’. She spent over ten years working as a teacher of English and Philosophy before finally taking a deep breath, scrunching her eyes shut, putting her pen to paper and vowing not to lift it again until she wrote the words The End. As a result, her first novel was born. Colleen lives between London, Ireland and Cyprus with her very patient husband and very, very chatty twin daughters. Don’t Stop Me Now is her first book and will be released in March.
D.K. HOOD
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Born in London, D.K. traveled extensively before settling in sunny Australia. Her interest in the development of forensic science to solve crime goes back many years. She is an avid reader of crime, mystery and thrillers. Writing in this genre has been an exciting adventure for her but nothing could top the thrill of receiving a proposal for her first submission, ‘Don’t Tell a Soul’ from commissioning editor Helen Jenner at Bookouture. D.K. looks forward to sharing her spine tingling stories with you.
DANA MASON
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE AUTHOR
Dana Mason started writing ten years ago after being overwhelmed by a story that wouldn’t let her sleep until she started writing. The story, Dangerous Embrace, was published in 2012 and won Best Mystery/Suspense from eFestival of Words Best of Independent eBook Awards. Dangerous Embrace is the first book in her Embrace Series. The second book in the series, Precious Embrace, was Runner-Up for Best Hero from eFestival of Words Best of Independent eBook Awards. Her third book, Broken Embrace, was awarded Best Indie Book in 2015 in the Romance Category. Dana lives in Northern California with her husband, children, and her writing companion/mighty protector, Mia the Chihuahua.
DEBBIE RIX
HISTORICAL FICTION AUTHOR
Debbie Rix has had a long career in journalism, including working as a presenter for the BBC. Her first novel, The Girl with Emerald Eyes was set around the building of the tower of Pisa and she has since released Daughters of the Silk Road and The Silk Weaver’s Wife. Debbie writes heartbreaking historical novels about love, tragedy and secrets.
DEBBIE VIGGIANO
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Prior to turning her attention to writing, Debbie Viggiano was, for more years than she cares to remember, a legal secretary. She lives with her Italian husband, a rescued pooch from Crete, and a very disgruntled cat. Occasionally her children return home from uni bringing her much joy… apart from their gifts of dirty laundry.
DEE MCDONALD
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Aged 18, Dee arrived in London from Scotland and typed her way round the West End for a couple of years before joining BOAC (forerunner of British Airways) in Passenger Services for 2 years and then as a stewardess for 8 years. She has worked in Market Research, Sales and at the Thames TV Studios when they had the franchise. Dee has since relocated to Cornwall, where she spent 10 years running B&Bs, and only began writing when she was over 70! Married twice, she has one son and two grandsons.
DONNA ASHCROFT
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Donna spent a couple of decades writing bad horror stories and worse poetry until she gave up and accidently fell into publishing. After many years of working on other people’s books, she began to write her own romantic comedies and hasn’t looked back. When Donna isn’t lost in her latest love affair, she works for a website where she indulges her other passion – buying moisturiser. Donna lives in Hertfordshire with her own romantic hero, two gorgeous teenagers and a couple of cantankerous cats.
DREW DAVIES
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Drew Davies was born in London and grew up in Whanganui, New Zealand. He attended the Unitec School of Performing Arts in Auckland and won a Playmarket New Zealand Young Playwright of the Year award in 2000. After a brief stint on a kiwi soap, he has worked in Search for the past 15 years. Drew’s other claim to fame is that Stephen Fry once called him droll. Either that, or he got his name wrong. He now lives in Wanstead, London.
DYLAN YOUNG
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Dylan Young grew up in a mining village in South Wales before boarding a train for London. A 35-year career in the NHS followed, the last 27 as a consultant ophthalmologist. Three dark psychological thrillers for Random House emerged in the late nineties and over the last decade, under different pseudonyms, he’s written children’s books and an adult contemporary fantasy series. Retiring from the NHS has allowed Dylan to spend (even) more time in his writing office — a shed in the garden. The first of a new three book crime series will be published by Bookouture in 2018 and he still can’t quite believe it.
ED JAMES
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Ed James writes crime-fiction novels. His Scott Cullen series features a young Edinburgh detective constable investigating crimes from the bottom rung of the career ladder he's desperate to climb.Set four hundred miles south on the streets of East London, his Dl Simon Fenchurch series features a detective with little to lose. Formerly and IT project manager, Ed began writing on planes, trains and automobiles to fill his weekly commute to London.He now writes full-time and lives in the Scottish Borders,with his girlfriend and a menagerie of rescued animals.
EMMA DAVIES
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Emma once worked for a design studio where she was asked to provide a fun, humorous, and not necessarily true anecdote about herself for their website. She wrote the following: ‘I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty something mother of three.’ Well the job didn’t work out but she’s now a forty something mother of three and happy to report the rest of her dream came true. She now lives in rural Shropshire with her husband, three children, and two guinea pigs where she writes full time from a shed in the garden.
EMMA GARCIA
CHICK LIT AUTHOR
Emma Garcia has completed an MA in Creative Writing at Roehampton University. Never Google Heartbreak (Published by Hodder in the UK and Bookouture in the US and Canada) is her first adult novel loosely based around her own experiences of being in her thirties and single in London, of being dumped, getting over it, falling in love and getting married.
EMMA ROBINSON
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Emma Robinson thinks of herself as one of the ‘Bridget Jones generation’ – who are now grown up and having children – and writes novels for women who feel the same. She also has a blog, Motherhood for Slackers, which takes a humorous look at parenthood, and includes poems such as ‘Dear Teacher’ about her son starting school which has been shared around the world. Emma is an English teacher and lives in Essex with a patient husband and two children who are an endless source of material.
EMMA TALLON
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Emma Tallon is a British writer and mother to a young son. She started her writing career several years ago, as a freelance ghostwriter. Behind the scenes she has crafted some of the most adventurous, edgy and heart-wrenching stories you will find in bookshops today. More recently, Emma decided to step out of the literary shadows and launch the first novel under her own name, Life Game. Emma is deeply passionate about her writing and often finds herself typing away into the early hours, as new ideas come to her. With a number of story lines and characters in the pipeline, Emma has plans for several more books in the London Underworld series.
ERIK THERME
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Erik Therme has thrashed in garage bands, inadvertently harbored runaways, and met Darth Vader. When he’s not at his computer, he can be found cheering for his youngest daughter’s volleyball team, or watching horror movies with his eighteen-year-old. He currently resides in Iowa City, Iowa—one of only twenty places in the world UNESCO has certified as a City of Literature.
FIONA VALPY
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Fiona Valpy lives in France, having moved there from the UK in 2007. She left behind a career in Marketing and Public Relations to explore new avenues and now teaches yoga and writes. Having renovated an old rambling farmhouse with her husband, she has developed new-found skills in cement-mixing and interior decorating, although her preferred pastime by far is wine-tasting.
FRANCES VICK
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
The only child of parents who worked at a top security psychiatric hospital, Frances grew up receiving disquieting notes and presents from the patients. Expelled from school, she spent the next few years on the dole, augmenting her income by providing security and crewing for gigs, and being a guinea pig for medical trials. Later jobs included working in a theatre in Manhattan, teaching English in Japanese Junior High Schools, and being a life model in Italy, before coming back to London and working with homeless teenagers and refugees.
GRAHAM SMITH
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
After serving my time as a joiner, I have dug drains, slated roofs and built bridges to put food on the table. Since 2000 I have run a busy hotel and wedding venue near Gretna Green. I have a teenage son and when not working, reading or writing, I enjoy socialising with family and friends.
GREGG OLSEN
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
A #1 New York Times, Amazon Charts, Wall Street Journal USA today bestselling author, Olsen has written nine nonfiction books, seventeen novels, a novella, and contributed a short story to a collection edited by Lee Child. Olsen, a Seattle native, lives in Olalla, Washington with his wife, twin daughters, three chickens, Millo (an obedience school dropout Cocker Spaniel) and Suri (a mini Dachshund so spoiled she wears a sweater).
HEATHER VAN FLEET
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE AUTHOR
Heather Van Fleet is a stay-at-home-mom turned book boyfriend connoisseur. She’s married to her high school sweetheart, a mom to three girls, and in her spare time you can find her with her head buried in her Kindle, guzzling down copious amounts of coffee. Heather graduated from Black Hawk College in 2003 and currently writes New Adult and Adult Contemporary Romance.
HELEN PHIFER
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Helen Phifer’s love of reading began with Enid Blyton, before progressing on to Laura Ingals Wilder and scaring herself with Steven King. If she can’t write for any particular reason she finds herself getting itchy fingers and really irritable. She loves reading as much as writing and is also very fond of chocolate, Prosecco, The Lake District, New York, white Zinfandel wine, my children and grandchildren, my friends, porn star martini cocktails, Stephen King, watching scary films, Marilyn Monroe, Melissa McCarthy, Idris Elba, Simon Baker, Spandau Ballet, The Munsters and coffee. In no particular order.
HELEN POLLARD
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
As a child, Helen had a vivid imagination fuelled by her love of reading (long past her bedtime!) so she started to create her own stories in a notebook. She still prefers fictional worlds to real life and loves infusing her writing with humour and heart. Helen lives in Yorkshire with her husband, two grown-up (in theory) kids and a Jekyll and Hyde cat. She enjoys reading, coffee with friends and indulging her nostalgia by watching old seventies and eighties TV shows.
HELENA DIXON
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Helena Dixon was born and continues to live in the Black Country. Married to the same man for over thirty years she has three daughters, a cactus called Spike, a crazy cockapoo and a tank of tropical fish. She is allergic to adhesives, apples, tinsel and housework. She was winner of The Romance Prize in 2007 and winner of Love Story of the Year 2010 under her Nell Dixon pen name.
HOLLY MARTIN
CHICK LIT AUTHOR
Holly emerged onto the Chick Lit scene by winning the Belinda Jones Travel Club short story competition – and has not looked back since. Her adult fiction debut, The Guestbook, hit number 5 in the Amazon chart and she has now signed a 2 book deal with Bookouture.
IAIN KING
THRILLER AUTHOR
Iain has worked in more than fifty countries around the world, many of them warzones, including Iraq, Libya, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and South Sudan. He is one of the youngest people ever to be made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE), an honour usually reserved for top generals and Oscar-winning actors.
J.M. HEWITT
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
J.M. Hewitt writes crime fiction and is the author of two previous novels. Her work incorporates twentieth and twenty-first century events and far flung locations, and her novels explore the darker side of human behaviour. In contrast to the sometimes dark content of her books, she enjoys a very nice life in a seaside village in Suffolk. She is a regular speaker at the Felixstowe Book Festival, an annual event which occurs in her home town.
JADE BEER
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Jade Beer is the editor of Conde Nast Brides magazine. Since taking on the title seven years ago Jade has overseen the print magazine, increasing its market leading position, launched the annual sell out live event, Brides The Show, and overseen the rapid growth of all the brand’s digital channels to a social audience that now exceeds four million. The job means travelling regularly to New York, Milan and Barcelona to cover the international bridal shows. When Jade is not travelling, she splits her time between London and Gloucestershire where her husband and two daughters live.
JAKE CROSS
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
As a kid, Jake chose to write fantasy because there was no research needed for an invented world. Early short stories covered probably every genre except dieselpunk-romcom. Although he now writes thrillers, Jake’s reading love is true crime. He thinks he’d make a good detective, but his partner points out that he can’t even decide if it was the three kids or the two cats who broke something in the house. His excuse: kids won’t sit still for a polygraph, and cats know their right to remain silent. There are no dieselpunk-romcom novels planned.
JAMES CAROL
THRILLER AUTHOR
James Carol is the #1 bestselling author of Broken Dolls, the first in a series of thrillers featuring former FBI profiler Jefferson Winter. The novel was released in the UK in January 2014 to rave reviews. To date the Winter books have been translated into eleven languages and sold more than a third of a million copies. The first of James’ standalone thrillers, The Killing Game, was published by Bookouture in October 2016 James lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and two children.
JENNIFER CHASE
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Jennifer Chase is a multi award-winning and best-selling crime fiction author, as well as a consulting criminologist. Jennifer holds a bachelor degree in police forensics and a master’s degree in criminology & criminal justice. These academic pursuits developed out of her curiosity about the criminal mind as well as from her own experience with a violent psychopath, providing Jennifer with deep personal investment in every story she tells. In addition, she holds certifications in serial crime and criminal profiling. She is an affiliate member of the International Association of Forensic Criminologists, and member of the International Thriller Writers.
JENNY HALE
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE AUTHOR
When she graduated college, one of Jenny’s friends said “Look out for this one; she’s going to be an author one day”. Despite being an avid reader and a natural storyteller, it wasn’t until that very moment that the idea of writing novels occurred to her. Sometimes our friends can see the things that we can’t. Whilst she didn’t start straight away, that comment sowed a seed and several years, two children and hundreds of thousands of words later, Jenny finished her first novel, Coming Home for Christmas, which became an instant bestseller.
JESS RYDER
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Jess Ryder is the pseudaonym of Jan Page, author, screenwriter, playwright and award-winning television producer. After many years working in children’s media, she has recently embarked on a life of crime. Writing, that is. So she’s very excited about the publication of her debut thriller Lie to Me. Her other big love is making pots.
JESSICA THORNE
COMMERCIAL FANTASY AUTHOR
Jessica Thorne saw Star Wars at an impressionable age and life was never the same. She’s loved fantasy, romance and science fiction ever since and spends her time looking for adventure – in the pages of her books. Sometimes she is Ruth Frances Long and won the European Science Fiction Society Spirit of Dedication Award for Best Author of Children’s Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2015.
JG ROBERTS
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Julia was born in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, and began her career as a professional singer/dancer. This enabled her to travel the world in her late teens storing up experiences she has since included in her writing. Following roles as a hostess on The Price is Right and a member of the Beadle’s About ‘hit squad’ in the 1980s, she became a TV Presenter and filmed features for Sky Sports before launching the QVC shopping channel in 1993 where she still presents today. Having always wanted to write, she penned her first book, a memoir sold on QVC, in 2013 and has since written four full length novels, two novellas and several short stories.
JILL CHILDS
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Jill always loved writing – real and imaginary – and spent thirty years travelling the world as a journalist, living overseas and reporting wherever the news took her. She’s now made her home in south-west London with her husband and twin girls who love stories as much as she does. Although she’s covered everything from earthquakes and floods, wars and riots, she’s decided some of the most extraordinary stories are right here at home – in the secrets and lies she imagines behind closed doors on ordinary streets just like yours.
K.T. FINCH
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
KT Finch writes psychological thrillers filled with murder, mystery and shocking twists. She was raised in Pennsylvania and she spent her adult life in Southern California. KT Finch graduated from University of Southern California with a Bachelor’s in mathematics and also holds a Masters in English and Writing and a PhD in Education. Writing has always been her passion and in addition to writing thrillers, she is also a bestselling indie author of romance novels under a different name.
KAREN CLARKE
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
After giving up her job as a library assistant, Karen now writes full-time. She’s had over 300 stories published in women’s magazines in the UK and abroad, and has written three paranormal romantic comedies, published by Little, Brown/Corsair. When she’s not writing she reads avidly, walks dogs at her local rescue centre, and is eagerly awaiting the next season of The Walking Dead. She lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband and three grown-up children.
KAREN KING
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Karen King was born in Birmingham and has always enjoyed reading and writing. A multi-published author of children’s books and romantic fiction, her rom-com The Cornish Hotel by the Sea became an international Amazon bestseller. She is delighted to now be part of the Bookouture team. She now lives in Spain and intends to spend her time writing romances while her husband, Dave, grows vegetables and tends to the zillions of fruit trees on their land – when she isn’t sunbathing or swimming in the pool, that is.
KATE HEWITT
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Kate Hewitt is the author of many romance and women’s fiction novels. A former New Yorker and now an American ex-pat, she lives in a small town on the Welsh border with her husband, five children, and their overly affectionate Golden Retriever. Whatever the genre, she enjoys telling stories that tackle real issues and touch people’s lives.
KATHRYN CROFT
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Kathryn is the bestselling author of seven psychological thrillers and to date she has sold over one million copies of her books. Her third book, The Girl with No Past, spent over four weeks at number one in the Amazon UK chart, and she has also appeared on The Wall Street Journal’s bestsellers list. With publishing deals in thirteen different countries, Kathryn writes full time and is now hard at work on her eighth book. After twelve years living in London, she now lives in Guildford, Surrey, the place she grew up, with her husband, their little boy, baby daughter and two crazy cats.
KATIE FFORDE
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE AUTHOR
Katie Fforde started writing when her mother gave her a writing kit for Christmas. She thinks she was fed up with her saying she wanted to write but not doing it. As Katie had three small children at the time, she thought this was a tiny bit unfair! But it seemed to do the trick and she started writing and loved it. It was eight years before she had a publisher and ten before a book appeared on a shelf. Katie has now been a published writer for over 20 years and has written over 20 bestselling novels and has sold over 3 million books. She has lived in the same house in Gloucestershire for over thirty five years and loves that her grandchildren are close by.
KELLY HEARD
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Originally from the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, Kelly Heard now lives in Richmond with her husband, spoiled house cat, and two-year-old daughter. She writes poetry, adult fiction, and creative nonfiction. When she is not writing or reading, Kelly enjoys spending her time gardening, cooking, and playing the ukulele for her toddler.
KELLY RIMMER
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
When Kelly’s childhood friends grew out of make-believe games, she realised she’d have to become a writer (or join the real world with them, but that seemed far too dull). Several decades later, she lives in rural Australia with her husband Daniel and their two young children.
KERIS STAINTON
ROMANIC COMEDY AUTHOR
Keris lives in Lancashire with her husband and two sons. She’s written a bunch of books for young adults and children, and is obsessed with Twitter, tea, and 1D.
KERRY FISHER
WOMEN'S FICTION WRITER
Kerry Fisher is the bestselling author of five novels, including The Silent Wife and The Secret Child. She was born in Peterborough, studied French and Italian at the University of Bath and spent several years living in Spain, Italy and Corsica. After returning to England to work as a journalist, she eventually abandoned real life stories for the secrets of fictional families. She now lives in Surrey with her husband, two teenage children and a naughty Lab/Schnauzer called Poppy.
KERRY WATTS
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Kerry Watts was born and raised in Perth where she can still be found today scribbling words on paper that she hopes people will enjoy reading. Now that her daughter has moved out to make her way in the world, she lives with her long suffering husband and son. Her family also consists of a blind and deaf elderly border collie called Misty. Domino, the rabbit, hops around under her feet when she’s writing at the kitchen table. The final character in her story is Buttercup, the friendliest hamster on the planet. She’s been writing for over twenty years but only recently decided to share her scribbles with the world.
KERRY WILKINSON
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Kerry Wilkinson is from the English county of Somerset but has spent far too long living in the north. It’s there that he’s picked up possibly made-up regional words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’. He pretends to know what they mean. He’s also been busy since turning thirty: his Jessica Daniel crime series has sold more than a million copies in the UK; he has written a fantasy-adventure trilogy for young adults; a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter and the standalone thriller, Down Among The Dead Men.
KIERNEY SCOTT
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
American born Kierney Scott, lives in Edinburgh, Scotland with her husband and their daughter. She likes to begin every writing session with a treadmill concert where she sings very loudly and tries her best not to fall or annoy her neighbours. In her spare time she loves to bake. Her buttercream icing is legendary, if only in her own mind. If you would like the recipe or just want to chat, drop her a line on Facebook or Twitter.
KITTY FRENCH
PARANORMAL ROMANTIC COMEDY AUTHOR
Kitty French lives in the Black Country with her husband, two young sons and two crazy cats. She’s a lover of all things romantic – songs, music, and most of all, books. Her USA Today best-selling Lucien Knight series topped the erotic chart on both sides of the pond, and she also writes romantic comedy as Kat French for Avon, HarperCollins. She’s over the moon to join Bookouture with her brand new paranormal romantic comedy series, Melody Bittersweet and the Girls Ghostbusting Agency.
KL SLATER
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
For many years, Kim sent her work out to literary agents but never made it off the slush pile. At the age of 40 she went back to Nottingham Trent University and now has an MA in Creative Writing. Before graduating, she received five offers of representation from London literary agents which was, as Kim says, ‘a fairytale … at the end of a very long road!’ Kim is a full-time writer and lives in Nottingham with her husband, Mac.
KRISTEN ZIMMER
NEW ADULT CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE AUTHOR
Kristen Zimmer is a New Jersey-based freelance writer and editor. A member of the International Women’s Writing Guild, she holds a B.A. in English with a Concentration in Creative Writing from Montclair State University. When not busy writing or burying her nose in books of the YA/New Adult fiction persuasion, Kristen enjoys spending time with her family, which includes two adorable Black Lab mixes and a very patient Better Half.
LAURA BRIGGS
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Laura Briggs is the author of several lighthearted romance novels and novellas, including the bestselling Amazon UK series A Wedding in Cornwall. She has a fondness for vintage-style dresses (especially ones with polka dots), and reads everything from Jane Austen to modern-day mysteries. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with family, caring for her pets, going to movies and plays, and trying new restaurants.
LAURA ELLIOT
Laura Elliot has written six novels which have been widely translated. Under the pseudonym June Considine, she has written twelve books for children and young adults. She has also worked as a journalist and magazine editor. She is a full-time writer, living in Dublin, Ireland, where she lives with her husband, Sean. After serving on the Board of the Irish Writers Centre, she established WORD, a group that connects professional writers. She is also one of the founder members of the Freedom to Write Campaign, which advocates on behalf of imprisoned writers around the world.
LAUREN WESTWOOD
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Lauren Westwood writes dark romantic women’s fiction, and is also an award-winning children’s writer. Originally from California, she now lives in England in a pernickety old house built in 1602, with her partner and three daughters.
LEIGHANN DOBBS
MYSTERY AUTHOR
USA Today bestselling author, Leighann Dobbs, discovered her passion for writing after a twenty year career as a software engineer. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband Bruce, their trusty Chihuahua mix Mojo and beautiful rescue cat, Kitty. Her book “Dead Wrong” won the “Best Mystery Romance” award at the 2014 Indie Romance Convention. Her book “Ghostly Paws” was the 2015 Chanticleer Mystery & Mayhem First Place category winner in the Animal Mystery category.
LESLEY SANDERSON
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Lesley spends her days writing in coffee shops in Kings Cross where she lives and also works as a librarian in a multicultural school. She has lived and worked in Paris and speaks four languages. She attended the Curtis Brown Creative novel writing course in 2015/6, and in 2017 was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish fiction prize. Lesley discovered Patricia Highsmith as a teenager and has since been hooked on psychological thrillers. She is particularly interested in the psychology of female relationships.
LESLEY WELSH
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Lesley Welsh was born in Strawberry Field children’s home and raised on a notorious council estate in Liverpool. Later she moved to London where she studied English and Drama and worked as a freelance writer specialising in alternative lifestyles. Her articles appeared in Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Red, Bite, Time Out and many others before she established Moondance Media, a magazine publishing company. Her dark and compelling short story Mrs Webster’s Obsession was turned into a film.
LILY GRAHAM
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Lily Graham was born in South Africa and is a former journalist. She lives now along the Suffolk coast with her husband and their English bulldog, Fudge. She is the author of seven novels, including The Paris Secret and The Island Villa.
LINDSAY J PRYOR
SPECULATIVE FICTION AUTHOR
Lindsay J. Pryor is a speculative fiction author. Her dark, gritty and complex dystopian BLACKTHORN series has achieved numerous Gothic and PNR Amazon number ones in the UK and the US. Her spin-off LOWTOWN novels are underway as well as her upcoming romantic Gothic horror. Quickly deciding that fantasy was more interesting than reality, Lindsay has been creating stories since she was nine years old. She holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Psychology and Communication and is a qualified Psychology lecturer and English teacher. She taught for eighteen years before becoming a full-time author. Lindsay grew up in Wales and now lives in South West England with her husband and a plethora of woodland creatures.
LISA REGAN
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Lisa Regan is an Amazon bestselling crime novelist. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Master of Education Degree from Bloomsburg University. She is a member of Sisters In Crime, Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter.
LIZ EELES
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Liz began her writing career as a journalist for newspapers and magazines before moving into the health sector as a communications manager and press officer. The low point of her career was abandoning an interview with Cliff Richard after two questions because she was about to faint – her excuse is that she was newly pregnant at the time. Liz is from Gloucestershire but now lives by the sea in West Sussex with her husband and grown-up daughter. She spends a lot of time meaning to meditate, avoiding exercise, and missing her son who lives in London.
LIZ TRENOW
HISTORICAL FICTION AUTHOR
Liz Trenow is a former journalist who spent fifteen years on regional and national newspapers, and on BBC radio and television news, before turning her hand to fiction. In Love and War is her fifth novel. She lives in East Anglia with her artist husband, and they have two grown up daughters and two beautiful grandchildren.
LIZZIE PAGE
HISTORICAL FICTION AUTHOR
Lizzie Page is the pseudonym of Sam Lierens, a mum of three, who (for some reason) got a puppy this year. Sam has lived and worked in Paris, Tokyo and London and loves combining her love of history with fiction.
LOUISE DOUGLAS
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Louise Douglas is a bestselling author who is also the winner of the RNA’s ‘People’s Choice’ award and has been featured on the UK’s Richard and Judy Book Club.
LOUISE JENSEN
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Louise Jensen always wanted to be Enid Blyton when she grew up, and when that didn’t happen she got a ‘proper’ job instead. Several years ago an accident left Louise with a disability and she began writing once again, to distract her from her pain and compromised mobility. But writing turned out to be more than just a good distraction. Louise loves creating exciting worlds, dark characters, and twisted plots. Louise lives in Northamptonshire with her husband, sons, a dog and a rather naughty cat, and also teaches mindfulness.
LUCY DAWSON
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Lucy has been writing psychological suspense novels since 2008, when her first bestseller – His Other Lover – was published. She writes full time from her home in Devon, where she lives with her husband and children. Before that, she used to interview the likes of Steps and SClub7 for a living, making absolutely no use whatsoever of her psychology degree from Warwick University, but having a lot of fun. Lucy is published worldwide and her works has been translated into numerous languages.
M. M. CHOUINARD
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
M.M. Chouinard’s first fiction story was published in her local paper when she was eight, and she fell in love with Agatha Christie novels not long after. While pursuing a Ph.D in psychology and helping to found the first U.S. research university of the new millenium, the stories kept rattling around inside her skull, demanding to come out. For sanity’s sake, she released them. She’s currently at work on her seventh novel.
MANDY BAGGOT
ROMANTIC FICTION
Mandy Baggot is an award-winning author of romantic women’s fiction and a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. In Feb 2016, her Bookouture novel, One Wish in Manhattan was shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year award. A contributor to writing blogs and short story anthologies, she is also a regular speaker at literary festivals, events and women’s networking groups. Mandy loves mashed potato, white wine, country music, Corfu and handbags. She has appeared on ITV1’s Who Dares Sings and auditioned for The X-Factor and lives in Wiltshire, UK with her husband, two children and cats Kravitz and Springsteen.
MARCIE STEELE
ROMANTIC COMEDY AUTHOR
Marcie Steele is a romantic at heart and has always wanted to write about characters who were not necessarily involved in the darker side of life, like her alter ego Mel Sherratt. Coffee, cakes and friends are three of her favourite things, hence when she isn’t writing you can always find her in a coffee shop eating a chocolate muffing and sipping a cappuccino, staring into space as she dreams up scenes for her next novel.
MARY DE LASZLO
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Mary de Laszlo had four novels published by Headline and has since had many others published by Hale. She was a fashion journalist with Vogue and now works as an occasional film extra when not writing.
MEL SHERRATT
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Mel Sherratt writes gritty crime dramas, psychological suspense and fiction with a punch – or grit-lit, as she calls it. Named as one of her home town’s top 100 influential people 2016, she’s sold nearly three quarters of a million books. Shortlisted for the prestigious CWA (Crime Writer’s Association) Dagger in the Library Award 2014, her inspiration comes from authors such as Martina Cole, Lynda la Plante, Mandasue Heller and Elizabeth Haynes. Mel lives in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, with my husband and terrier, Dexter (named after the TV serial killer) and make liberal use of her hometown as a backdrop for some of her books.
MICHAEL SCANLON
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
I am a civilian employee of the An Garda Siochana (the Irish police force), but a life threatening undiagnosed illness that struck while travelling in Spain in 2014 has rendered me on long term sick leave. I am married to Eileen and have a daughter, Sarah. I live in the countryside outside the town of Ballina in County Mayo. The town has arguable the best salmon river in Europe, called the Moy.
MONICA JAMES
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE AUTHOR
Monica James is a bestselling author in the US, Australia, Canada, and the UK. She resides in Melbourne, Australia, with her wonderful family, and menagerie of animals. She is slightly obsessed with cats, Chucks and lip gloss, and secretly wishes she was a ninja on the weekends.
NANCY BARONE
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Nancy grew up in Canada, but at the age of 12 her family moved to Italy. Catapulted into a world where her only contact with the English language was her old Judy Blume books, Nancy became an avid reader and a die-hard romantic. Nancy stayed in Italy and, despite being surrounded by handsome Italian men, she married an even more handsome Brit. They now live in Sicily where she teaches English.
NATALIE MEG EVANS
HISTORICAL FICTION AUTHOR
Natalie Meg Evans has been an art student, actor, PR copywriter, book-keeper and bar tender but always wanted to write. A USA Today best-seller and RITA nominee, she is author of four published novels which follow the fortunes of strong-minded women during the 1930s and 40s. Fashion, manners and art are the glass through which her characters’ lives are viewed. Each novel is laced with passion, romance and desire. Mystery is never far away. An avid absorber of history – for her sixth birthday she got a toy Arthurian castle with plastic knights – Natalie views historical fiction as theatre for the imagination. Her novels delve behind the scenes of a prestige industry: high fashion, millinery, theatre, wine making. Rich arenas for love and conflict. Most at home in the English countryside, Natalie lives in rural Suffolk. She has one son.
NICK HOLLIN
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
From bookbinder to gardener to forensic analyst, Nick has enjoyed an extremely varied working life. At home his interests are equally diverse, but nothing beats books. Collecting, reading, writing, they have always been a passion in one form or another. A graduate of Royal Holloway’s Creative Writing Masters, he’s fulfilling a long-held dream of being published and hopes to be at this for a good while yet. He lives in Cambridgeshire with his partner, young son and cat.
NICOLA MARSH
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
USA TODAY bestseller and multi-award winner Nicola Marsh writes feel-good fiction…with a twist! She has published 68 novels and sold over 8 million copies worldwide. She currently writes rural romance for Harper Collins Australia, emotional domestic suspense for Bookouture and contemporary romance for Harlequin Dare. She’s also a Waldenbooks, Bookscan, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble bestseller, a RBY (Romantic Book of the Year) and National Readers’ Choice Award winner. A physiotherapist for thirteen years, she now writes full time, raises two dashing young heroes, shares fine food with family and friends, and her favorite, curls up with a good book!
NICOLE TROPE
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Nicole Trope Nicole Trope went to university to study Law but realised the error of her ways when she did very badly on her first law essay because, as her professor pointed out, ‘It’s not meant to be a story.’ She studied teaching instead and used her holidays to work on her writing career and complete a Masters’ degree. In between raising three children, working for her husband and renovating houses, she has published six novels. She lives in Sydney, Australia.
NIGEL MAY
GLAM FICTION AUTHOR
Nigel May is a true all-rounder in the media world, working as a TV presenter, author, journalist and craft personality. He has written six glam-fiction books, Trinity, Addicted, Scandalous Lies, Deadly Obsession, Lovers & Liars and his latest is Revenge. Nigel also featured in Sunlounger – a chart-topping anthology of short stories.
PAM HOWES
SAGA AUTHOR
Pam is a retired interior designer, mum to three daughters, grandma to seven assorted grandchildren and roadie to her musician partner. The inspiration for Pam’s first novel came from her teenage years, working in a record store, and hanging around with musicians who frequented the business. The first novel evolved into a series about a fictional band The Raiders. She is a fan of sixties music and it’s this love that compelled her to begin writing.
PATRICIA GIBNEY
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Patricia is the million-copy bestselling author of the DI Lottie Parker series. She yearned to be a writer after reading Enid Blyton and Carolyn Keene and even wanted to be Nancy Drew when she grew up. She has now grown up (she thinks) but the closest she’s come to Nancy Drew is writing crime! In 2009, after her husband died, she retired from her job and started writing seriously. Fascinated by people and their quirky characteristics, she always carries a notebook to scribble down observations. Patricia also loves to paint in watercolour and lives in the Irish midlands with her children.
PIPPA JAMES
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Growing up in Birmingham, Pippa James was never without at least one book on the go and therefore lived several different lives concurrently. As an adult, she would like to spend much of her time the same way, but she now lives a chaotic life in a small Derbyshire town with her husband and two children. Her writing is frequently interrupted by parenting duties and her day job as a teacher and the only way she can find a quiet space to think, is by taking her laptop to the pub, which she does at every opportunity.
REBECCA STONEHILL
HISTORICAL WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Rebecca Stonehill is from London but currently lives in Nairobi with her husband and three young children. In the past she has been travel consultant, EFL teacher and piano teacher, but she is now devoting her time to her love of creative writing by setting up Magic Pencil, an initiative to take creative writing and poetry into schools and get children exciting about storytelling, language and the magic of words.
RENITA D’SILVA
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Renita grew up in a picturesque coastal village in the South of India, the oldest of three children. Her father got her first story books when she was six and she fell in love with the world of stories. Even now she prefers that world, by far, to this.
RICHARD PARKER
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Richard Parker is an ex TV script writer, script editor and producer who now writes dark, stand alone thrillers. His first novel, Stop Me, was nominated for a Dagger Award. The movie rights to his second, Scare Me, have been bought by Hollywood studio Relativity Media with screenplay completed by Wentworth ‘PRISON BREAK’ Miller and his third, Stalk Me, rode high in the US and UK Amazon charts.
ROBERT BRYNDZA
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Robert Bryndza is the author of the international #1 bestseller The Girl in the Ice. The Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller is the first book in the Detective Erika Foster series. The Night Stalker, and Dark Water are the second and third books in the series, and the fourth book, Last Breath, has just been published. Robert’s books have sold over 2 million copies, and have been translated into 27 languages. In addition to writing crime fiction, Robert has published a bestselling series of romantic comedy novels. He is British and lives in Slovakia.
RONA HALSALL
PSYCHOLOGICAL CRIME AUTHOR
Rona Halsall was a management consultant for twenty years, before dedicating herself to creative writing full-time. Her writing skills have been honed through the production of three novels and by reading anything and everything, as well as undertaking an open university creative writing course. She is a keen book reviewer and belongs to a number of on-line book and writing groups. She has three grown-up children of her own and two step-children and lives on the Isle of Man with her husband, two dogs and a couple of guinea pigs.
ROSE JAMES
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Rose lives in Shropshire where she was born and raised, and spent an idyllic childhood in the countryside. She studied acting and singing for several years at a local theatre school, before moving to the Welsh border in her teens. After finishing college, Rose got a job rather than going to university, and joined a heavy metal band while supporting herself, but returned to academic study in 2011 and began working as a freelance writer the following year. Rose is now travelling the world one bit at a time, although New Orleans is quickly becoming a second home.
RUBY HUMMINGBRID
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Ruby Hummingbrid is a novelist based in the English countryside.She loves nothing more than writing uplifting and heartwarming fiction that gets her readers reaching for the tissues. When she isn't story telling. she can be found tending to her beloved sunflowers or sipping on hazelnut lattes.The wish List of Albie Young i her debut novel,and it promises to be a real heartbreaker.
RUTH HEALD
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Ruth Heald is a psychological thriller writer from a suburban Buckinghamshire town. She studied Economics at Oxford and then worked in an eclectic mix of sectors from nuclear decommissioning to management consulting. Seeking a more creative environment, she found a role at the BBC and worked there for nine years before leaving to write full time. Ruth is fascinated by psychology and finding out what drives people to violence, destruction and revenge. She’s married with one daughter and her novels explore our greatest fears in otherwise ordinary, domestic lives.
S. D. MONAGHAN
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
S. D. Monaghan grew up in Dublin before travelling extensively in Asia, Europe and America. After teaching English in Thailand for two years, he moved back to Ireland and gained an honours degree in psychology. While living in Canada for four year, he studied screenwriting in Toronto. S. D. Monaghan completed the Masters in Creative Writing at Trinity College, Dublin with the editorial guidance of the Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford and Orange Prize nominee, Deirdre Madden. On the strength of his work there, he was chosen to represent both the university and the Oscar Wilde Writers’ Centre to read excerpts at the Dublin Publishers Festival and on Dublin Culture Night. He lives in Dublin with his wife, where he is currently working on his new novel. He is represented by Zoe Ross at United Agents.
S.E. LYNES
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
After graduating from Leeds University, S E Lynes lived in London before moving to Aberdeen where she worked as a BBC Producer. In 2002, she moved to Rome with her husband and two young children. In 2007, after the birth of her third child, she returned to the UK and gained an MA in Creative Writing from Kingston University. Currently, she writes novels and teaches Creative Writing at Richmond Adult Community College. Her psychological thriller, Valentina, was published by Blackbird Books in 2016 and her next book, the dark and twisting best seller, Mother, was published by Bookouture in November 2017 with her third book, The Pact, publishing in February 2018.
SAMANTHA HAYES
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Samantha Hayes grew up in a creative family where her love of writing began as a child. Samantha has written eight thrillers in total, including the bestselling Until You’re Mine. The Independent said “fantastically written and very tense” while Good Housekeeping said “Her believable psychological thrillers are completely gripping.” Samantha’s books are published in 22 languages at the last count. When not writing, Samantha loves to cook, go to the gym, see friends and drink nice wine. She is also studying for a degree in psychotherapy. She has three grown-up children and lives in Warwickshire.
SANDY TAYLOR
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Sandy Taylor grew up on a council estate near Brighton. There were no books in the house, so Sandy’s love of the written word was nurtured in the little local library. Leaving school at fifteen, Sandy worked in a series of factories before landing a job at Butlins in Minehead. This career change led her to becoming a singer, a stand up comic and eventually a playwright and novelist.
SARAH CLUTTON
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Sarah Clutton lives in the picturesque Australian country town of Bowral. Previously a commercial lawyer, she quit the world of litigation as soon as she could find a good excuse and has since been working as a content writer and not quite finishing her Masters of Arts in Writing. In 2018 she was awarded the Dymocks/Fiona McIntosh Fiction Scholarship, a national competition run in conjunction with Australia’s largest book chain. Sarah now spends her time writing women’s fiction, chauffeuring her children and being overwhelmed by her largely neglected three-acre garden.
SARAH DENZIL
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Sarah A. Denzil is a Wall Street Journal bestselling thriller author from Derbyshire. Her books include number one ebook bestseller Silent Child, as well as Saving April, The Broken Ones and One for Sorrow. Sarah lives in Yorkshire with her husband, enjoying the scenic countryside and rather unpredictable weather. She loves to write moody, psychological books about ordinary people in extraordinary situations.
SARAH MITCHELL
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Sarah grew up in Norfolk and studied law at Cambridge University which led to a career as a barrister, working mainly in the field of human rights. After nearly twenty years she was tempted off-track by a creative writing course at the Open University and fell in love with making up stories instead of constructing arguments. Three years later she completed, with distinction, an MA in Creative Writing – Prose Fiction at the UEA. Now she lives in Norfolk again, this time with her husband and three almost-grown-up children, where she combines writing with some legal work – and thanking her enormous number of lucky stars.
SARAH WRAY
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Sarah has always loved to read and worked with words, starting her career in academic publishing before moving into writing. She was always interested in writing a novel but it just seemed such a huge, unknown complicated thing. In the end, she decided to just go for it and see what happened. It was a personal challenge. The early draft of the book promptly won the Northern Writers’ Award (Arvon Award) in 2015 and was taken on by agent Laura Longrigg.
SHALINI BOLAND
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Shalini lives in Dorset, England with her husband, two children and Jess their cheeky terrier cross. Before kids, she was signed to Universal Music Publishing as a singer songwriter, but now she spends her days writing suspense thrillers (in between school runs and hanging out endless baskets of laundry).
SHARON MAAS
LITERARY WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Sharon Maas was born in Georgetown, Guyana, in 1951 and educated in Guyana and England. After leaving school she worked as a staff journalist at the Guyana Graphic and the Sunday Chronicla in Georgetown. Sharon has always had a great sense of adventure and curiosity about the world we live in, and Guyana could not hold her for long. In 1971 she set off on a year-long backpacking trip around South America. In 1973 she travelled overland to India through Europe, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and spent two years in an Ashram in South India.
SHERYL BROWNE
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Sheryl Browne writes psychological thriller and edgy contemporary fiction. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association, Romantic Novelists’ Association and awarded a Red Ribbon by The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies, where she completed her MA in Creative Writing.
SHIRLEY DICKSON
HISTORICAL FICTION AUTHOR
Shirley Dickson was born and grew up in the seaside town of South Shields. She left school at fifteen and can’t remember a time when she didn’t write. She entered her first short story competition in ‘School Friend’ when she was eleven. After Shirley retired from auxiliary nursing, she was able to devote her time to writing. After living in various locations, she settled under the big skies of Northumberland and has lived with her husband in the same house for over forty years. Shirley has three daughters and four grandchildren and likes nothing better than family gatherings.
SINEAD MORIARTY
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Sinead was born and raised in Dublin where she grew up surrounded by books. Growing up, Sinead says she was inspired by watching her mother writing at the kitchen table and then being published. From that moment on, her childhood dream was to write a novel. It was at the age of thirty, while working as a journalist in London that she began to write creatively in her spare time – after work, at lunch times … and, truth be told, during work hours. After a couple of years toying with ideas, she joined a creative writing group and began to write The Baby Trail. The bitter-sweet comedy of a couple struggling to conceive hit a nerve in publishing circles. It was snapped up by Penguin in the UK and Ireland and has, to date, been translated into twenty-five languages. Since writing The Baby Trail, Sinead has moved back to Dublin where she lives with her husband and three children and their little black cat, Minnie.
SOPHIE HART
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Sophie Hart lives in London with her boyfriend and her collection of naughty books. Her first novel, The Naughty Girls Book Club, reached number one on the Bookseller Heatseeker’s Chart, and was also published in Italy, Spain and Germany. Sophie likes to spend her time going on nice holidays, making half-hearted attempts at exercise, and lusting after Daniel Craig.
SOPHIE RANALD
WOMAN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Sophie Ranald is the youngest of five sisters. She was born in Zimbabwe and lived in South Africa until an acute case of itchy feet brought her to London in her mid-20s. As an editor for a customer publishing agency, Sophie developed her fiction-writing skills describing holidays to places she’d never visited. In 2011, she decided to disregard all the good advice given to aspiring novelists and attempt to write full-time. After one false start, It Would Be Wrong to Steal My Sister’s Boyfriend (Wouldn’t It?) seemed to write itself. Four further novels followed, and she became part of the Bookouture family in 2018. Sophie also writes for magazines and online about food, fashion, finance and fitness. She lives in south-east London with her amazing partner Hopi and Purrs, their adorable little cat.
STELLA NEWMAN
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Stella Newman studied English at Sussex University, then went on to work in advertising, at the BBC and then as a professional food taster. She is now a full time writer, based in London and is currently writing her third novel and her first TV series
STEPHEN EDGER
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Stephen was born in the north of England, grew up in London, but is now firmly cemented in Southampton, where all of his books are set. Stephen isn’t an author, he’s “just a bloke who writes stuff that people seem to enjoy.” From an early age, his teachers said he had a “vivid imagination”, and now he is finally realizing his potential with more than ten books to his name.
SUE ROBERTS
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
I live in Lancashire with my long term partner Derek and have had a lifelong love of writing, encouraged by winning a school writing competition at the age of 11. I always assumed that ‘one day’ I would write a book, always having a busy household and a job, the idea remained firmly on the back burner but never forgotten. The inspiration for my first novel came to me on a holiday to a Greek village. My daughters had left home and suddenly the time had come to write that book!
SUE WATSON
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
Sue Watson was a journalist on women’s magazines and national newspapers before leaving it all behind for a career in TV. As a producer with the BBC she worked on garden makeovers, kitchen takeovers and daytime sofas – all the time making copious notes so that one day she might escape to the country and turn it all into a book. After much deliberation and copious consumption of cake, Sue eventually left her life in TV to write. After a very successful debut novel, Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes Sue signed a three book deal with Bookouture
SUSANNE O’LEARY
ROMANTIC COMEDY AUTHOR
Susanne O’Leary is the bestselling author of more than 20 novels, mainly in the romantic fiction genre. She has also written three crime novels and two in the historical fiction genre. The wife of a former diplomat, she has also been a fitness teacher and a translator. She now writes full-time from either of two locations, a rambling house in County Tipperary, Ireland or a little cottage overlooking the Atlantic in Dingle, County Kerry. When she is not scaling the mountains of said counties, or doing yoga, she keeps writing, producing a book every six months.
SUZANNE KELMAN
HISTORICAL FICTION AUTHOR
Suzanne Kelman is a 2015 Academy of Motion Pictures Nicholl Finalist, Multi-Award-Winning Screenwriter and a Film Producer. As well as working in film she is also an International Amazon Bestselling Fiction Author of the Southlea Bay Series – The Rejected Writers’ Book Club, Rejected Writers Take the Stage and The Rejected Writers’ Christmas Wedding. Born in the United Kingdom, she now resides in Washington State.
T.J. BREARTON
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
T.J. Brearton is the author of eight published novels of crime fiction, including detective thrillers, police procedurals, psychological suspense, and one paranormal crime story. His eBooks have been best-sellers on the Amazon kindle fiction Top 100 list. He lives in the Adirondacks with his wife and three children where he writes full time.
TERESA DRISCOLL
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
For fifteen years Teresa presented the BBC’s nightly TV news programme Spotlight from Devon. She has worked as a reporter and columnist for a wide range of newspapers and her first novel, Recipes for Melissa was published in Spring 2015.
TILLY TENNANT
WOMEN'S FICTION AUTHOR
From a young age, Tilly Tennant was convinced that she was destined for the stage. Once she realised she wasn’t actually very good at anything that would put her on the stage, she started to write stories instead. There were lots of terrible ones, like The Pet Rescue Gang (aged eight), which definitely should not see the light of day ever again. Thankfully, her debut novel, Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn was not one of those, and since it hit the Amazon best seller lists she hasn’t looked back. Born in Dorset, she currently lives in Staffordshire with her husband, two daughters, three guitars, four ukuleles, two violins and a kazoo.
TOM BALE
THRILLER AUTHOR
Tom Bale decided that he wanted to be an author from the age of seven but, after another career got in the way, it wasn’t until much later that his dream was fulfilled. After several books with Random House, Bookouture published two stunning ‘everyman’ thrillers by Tom See How They Run and All Fall Down.
TRACY BLOOM
ROMANTIC COMEDY AUTHOR
Tracy Bloom started writing when she moved from the UK to live in America with her husband and a brand new baby. Determined to see it as an opportunity, she pursued her dream of writing a bestseller and by 2013, NO-ONE EVER HAS SEX ON A TUESDAY, had topped the charts. Back living in England she combines writing full time with herding her husband and two children around Derbyshire.
TRACY BUCHANAN
WOMEN'S FICTION
Tracy Buchanan lives in Buckinghamshire in the UK with her husband, daughter and their puppy, Bronte. She travelled extensively while working as a travel magazine editor, sating the wanderlust she developed while listening to her Sri Lankan grandparents’ childhood stories – the same wanderlust that now inspires her writing. She now dedicates her time to writing and procrastinating on social media.
VALERIE KEOGH
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Born in Dublin to a large family, her mother was a keen Agatha Christie fan so these were the first adult novels she read. Valerie qualified as a nurse and still works as a nurse, though she also obtained a degree in English and a Master’s in American Literature, both from UCD, Dublin. She moved to the UK in 2006 with her English husband and started to work as a nurse, but writing was what she really wanted to do. Once she finally started she hasn’t stopped and currently has nine novels self-published on Amazon. Joining Bookouture has been a dream come true.
VICTORIA FOX
BONKBUSTER AUTHOR
Victoria went to boarding school in her teens and studied English at university. While there, she wrote her first (unpublished) bonkbuster: The Hardest Part. It had lots of sex in it and not a great deal else. Suffice to say that after a rambunctious beginning it was over disappointingly quickly. Despite this, the genre never lost its sheen. A long-time admirer of Jackie Collins, Victoria often wondered what life would be like as a bonkbuster author. After working in publishing for a few years, she decided to quit and find out…
VICTORIA JENKINS
CRIME THRILLER AUTHOR
Victoria Jenkins is an English tutor and former secondary school teacher from South Wales who has been writing for years and day-dreaming about becoming a ‘proper’ writer for the past decade. She have an MA in Creative and Media Writing from the University of Wales, Swansea, where she wrote a lot of poetry while planning a lot of plots she hoped she would once day write. Victoria lives in South Wales with her husband.
VIKKI PATIS
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Vikki Patis is an author and blogger, as well as an avid book reviewer. She runs The Bandwagon blog. When she isn’t working as a Regulatory Affairs Officer, she can usually be found drinking tea, baking cakes, or taking walks in the Hertfordshire countryside. She lives with her partner and two cats.
WENDY CLARKE
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR
Wendy Clarke was a teacher until the small primary school where she worked closed down. Now she is a writer of psychological suspense but is also well known for her short stories and serials which regularly appear in national women’s magazines. Wendy has two children and three step-children and lives with her husband, cat and step-dog in Sussex. When not writing, she is usually indulging in her passion for dancing, singing or watching any programme that involves food!