Victor Canning was a prolific writer throughout his career, which began young: he had sold several short stories by the age of nineteen and his first novel, Mr Finchley Discovers His England (1934) was published when he was twenty-three. It proved to be a runaway bestseller. Canning also wrote for children: his trilogy The Runaways was adapted for US children’s television. Canning’s later thrillers were darker and more complex than his earlier work and received further critical acclaim.

Lucy Vine is the best-selling author of Hot Mess, What Fresh Hell, Are We Nearly There Yet?, Bad Choices, and Seven Exes. Her books have been bought in 17 territories and optioned for TV/film.

Paul Flower was born and raised in Michigan and still resides there. He has been writing professionally for more than 37 years. While much of his career has been spent in advertising and marketing, he worked in broadcasting for a short time. Paul has one previously published novel to his credit, and his writing has appeared in national and regional magazines. He and his wife have four grown children and a rapidly evolving number of incredibly beautiful and intelligent grandchildren.

Chris Russell is a writer and musician based in London. Since forming The Lightyears in his teens he has toured the world, playing everywhere from Wembley Stadium to Glastonbury Festival. He has worked as a music reviewer and features writer, and is currently writer-in-residence for Byte the Book. As well as Mockstars, Chris is also the author of a successful series of novels for young adults: Songs About a Girl, Songs About a Boy and Songs About Us.

Castle Freeman, Jr. is the author of five novels, including the critically acclaimed Go With Me, which has been made into a film starring Anthony Hopkins, as well as two short-story collections. For thirty years he contributed pieces on country living in New England in The Old Farmer’s Almanac, and he has lived rural Vermont since 1975.

Paula Lennon writes in multiple genres including contemporary crime, historical fiction, and magical realism. She was longlisted for the Historical Writers Association/Sharpe Books Unpublished Novel Award, and was a finalist in the ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition. Her Jamaican detective trilogy is published by Joffe Books.

Lee Farnsworth studied Genetics at Newcastle University, eventually gaining a PhD for his work on bovine mitochondria. He then spent more than fifteen years in the pharmaceutical industry, holding senior leadership positions in Europe and the US. He kissed the corporate world goodbye to spend more time writing. Lee lives in Berkshire. He has two children and a large collection of bird feeders.

Sadia Azmat is a British stand-up comedian, writer and published author of Sex Bomb. In 2018 Sadia launched her critically acclaimed BBC podcast ‘No Country For Young Women’ which was named as one of the ‘Best Audio 2018’ by the Observer and Apple’s Top picks 2018.