AUTHORS: A-E
Maxine Barry
Maxine Barry writes contemporary romantic fiction, often set in exotic locations and featuring feisty heroines.
Maxine’s backlist, including Imposters in Paradise, Heart of Fire and The Lying Game, are being reissued by Joffe Books.
Ruby Basu
Ruby lives in the beautiful Chilterns with her husband, two children, and the cutest dog in the world. She worked for many years as a lawyer and policy lead in the Civil Service.
As the second of four children, Ruby connected strongly with Little Women’s Jo March and was scribbling down stories from a young age. A huge fan of romantic movies, Star Wars, and Marvel, she loves creating new characters and worlds while waiting for her superpowers to develop.
She is the author of The Twelve Wishes of Christmas and The Love Arrangement published by HQ Digital, and Baby Surprise for the Millionaire published by Mills & Boon. Her next book, Cinderella’s Forbidden Prince, was published by Mills & Boon in January 2023.
@writerrb01 rubybasu.com instagram/authorrubybasu tiktok/@authorrubybasu
Jennifer Bibby
As a lifelong lover of stories, Jennifer Bibby spent her teenage years writing historical epics before finding her feet exploring the everyday lives of modern women through literature. In addition to being a bibliophile, she loves classy cocktails, cake and medieval history. She’s happiest by the sea and loves to travel, and firmly believes that dinosaurs improve everything. Her debut romance novel The Cornish Hideaway was published in 2022 by Simon & Schuster and was a contender for the 2022 RNA Joan Hessayon award.
PR Black
PR Black is the author of several thrillers published by Aries, including The Family, The Beach House, The Runner and The Winter House. His latest novel The Hunted was published in August 2022.
He has been published in magazines including Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and The People’s Friend. He was born and raised in Glasgow but now lives in Yorkshire with his wife and children.
Nick de Bois
With his wife Helen, Nick divides his time between their home in Hertfordshire and their villa on the Montgo mountain in Spain. After a lifetime in the live events industry, he won election to Parliament in 2010 where he served until 2015. He worked in Downing Street during the frenetic Brexit negotiation, joined TalkRadio as a broadcast host and has written his first book, Confessions of a Recovering MP. With four grown up children from his first marriage and two step children, he is now free to devote much of his time to his first novel.
Anna Britton
Sylvia Broady
Tackling emotional hardships, including from family separations, are the seams running through Sylvia Broady’s sagas set in and around the Yorkshire city of Hull. Sylvia has family both in Hull and Australia, and travelling to shores, both near and far, is often on the agenda. Her grandchildren and zest for life keep her young at heart.
Sylvia is the author of The Lost Daughter and Daughter of the Sea, published by Allison & Busby.
Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown (also writing as Morgan Cry) has eleven crime and thriller books published to date, along with a novella and a number of short stories.
Gordon is a founding director of Bloody Scotland, Scotland’s International Crime Writing Festival (www.bloodyscotland.com), a DJ on local radio (www.pulseonair.co.uk) and also runs a strategic planning consultancy. He lives in Scotland and is married with two children.
In a former life Gordon delivered pizzas in Toronto, sold non-alcoholic beer in the Middle East, launched a creativity training business, floated a high tech company on the London Stock Exchange, compered the main stage at a two-day music festival and was once booed by 49,000 people while on the pitch at a major football Cup Final.
Christopher Byford
Through a series of coincidences, Chris Byford decided to give up the world of IT to become a full time author, giving himself the deadline of being published in a year or give up. He narrowly met it.
His Den of Shadows trilogy was picked up by HQ and became Amazon bestsellers, leading to the release of a collection with additional material, as well as a free miscellany of cut chapters in the form of Luck and Other Deadly Things.
He keeps chickens, enjoys astronomy and, when not writing, can usually be found indulging in English fables and legends. Chris lives with his wife and son in Gloucester.
Dennis Carey
Dennis Carey writes contemporary and historical fiction. Though based in Northamptonshire, his writing has a strong Irish influence and provides cause to return to his native Ireland as often as possible.
Alice Castle
Before turning to writing crime fiction, Alice was a feature writer on national newspapers including the Daily Express, The Times and The Daily Telegraph.
She writes the Beth Haldane Mystery cozy crime series as Alice Castle and psychological thrillers for HQ under the name A.M. Castle. Her first thriller, The Perfect Widow, was an Amazon best seller and a top-selling audiobook. Her latest novel and eighth Beth Haldane Mystery, The Murder Garden, was published in November 2022.
Alice lives in south east London with her two daughters and two cats.
Carryl Church
Originally from the Isle of Wight, Carryl writes historical fiction and is often inspired by familiar locations. She now lives in Devon with her husband, son, and a cat called Ditsy. An early fascination with watching old films led to a career as a Film Archivist, working at the Imperial War Museum and the BBC. Carryl is also an artist and loves experimenting in her sketchbook. When she’s not writing or painting, she’s probably reading, roaming about the countryside or trying not to kill another houseplant.
A. J. Clack
After university, Ali moved to London to pursue a career in television. She worked on a wide range of shows from Teletubbies to Friends. She now lives in Essex with a houseful of teenagers. When not writing twisty YA thrillers, she can often be found freezing on the side of a rugby pitch.
Joanne Clague
A Yorkshire lass, Jo studied journalism at NCTJ level and relocated to the Isle of Man. She enjoys life by the sea with her partner, children, dogs and wild goats. She works in print, radio and broadcast journalism on the island and in the north west of England. The Girl at Change Alley, her second novel in The Sheffield Sagas series set in 19th century Sheffield, was published in November 2022.
Richy Craven
He can be found mostly on Twitter for as long as that is still a thing. He lives in Dublin with his girlfriend and a Border Collie named Rio. Richy collects comic books and anxiety disorders.
Lucy Cruickshanks
Lucy Cruickshanks’s novels have been shortlisted for the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award and Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize, named a Top Ten Book of the Year by The Bookbag, and featured widely in the press.
A great fan of the underdog, she’s drawn to people and places grappling with political instability, writing about societies at their most precarious and fraught with risk.
Lucy is also cofounder of Bookaxe, a startup which uses AI to connect likeminded readers, with users from over 100 countries.
Brid Cummings
Louise Davidson
Anita Davison
Brought up in London and always fascinated by the city’s history, Anita Davison is the author of the Flora Maguire Mysteries, an Edwardian Cozy Mystery series set in London and Cheltenham, where Anita now lives. Published by Aria Fiction, the first release is Flora’s Secret, followed by Betrayal at Cleeve Abbey, A Knightsbridge Scandal, The Forgotten Children and The Bloomsbury Affair.
Katie Daysh
Katie Daysh is an author from the Isle of Wight who loves to explore unheard voices in fiction. In her main genre, historical fiction, she enjoys placing queer characters at the heart of the narrative. Her stories are often set on the sea and illuminate themes of friendship, loyalty and mental health issues. Her debut novel, the queer Age of Sail adventure, Leeward, was published through Canelo in 2023, to be followed by two other stories in the trilogy. In her regular life, she works in retail.
@KDayshAuthor @KDayshAuthor www.katiedaysh.com KDayshAuthor
Helena Dixon
Helena Dixon writes classic 1930’s set cosy crime. She is also a best selling multi-award winning author of romantic fiction as Nell Dixon.
A two time winner of the Romantic Novelist’s RONA Rose award, she has a passion for architecture, history and art. A registered nurse, midwife and health visitor, she works in end of life and advanced dementia care.
Lesley Eames
Lesley Eames writes historical sagas set in the early twentieth century. Her awards include the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Elizabeth Goudge Cup and the Festival of Romance’s New Talent Award. Her first book, The Runaway Women in London, was shortlisted in the UK Romantic Novel Awards. She has also sold almost 100 short stories.
Lesley’s previous careers include solicitor, event organiser and Marketing and Fundraising Development Manager for a national charity. In addition to her own writing, she provides mentoring and editing services to other writers.