Mary Hamer taught for many years before deciding to write full- time. She travels widely, though not as widely as Kipling, spending time each year in the United States, where she trained as an actor.
In Southwark, where she lives with her husband, she works as a volunteer with young offenders. Her experience as the mother of a step-family helps with this. She has published works of non-fiction before but this is her first novel.

Andy worked as an actor for 20 years, appearing in Coronation Street as the murderer of Brian Tilsley and the hapless doctor in the movie, The Woman in Black, alongside Daniel Radcliffe. In 2012, he wrote his first novel for teens, Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind. It was shortlisted for the Waterstones Childrens Book Prize 2013 and has been described as ‘Adrian Mole for the geek generation’. The sequel, Geekhood: Mission Improbable, was released in April this year and he’s currently working on his first book for younger readers.

Bio: An actress as well as an author, Katie Dale loves nothing more than creating characters – both on page and onstage. She kept her parents happy by getting a “proper degree” in English Literature at Sheffield University, before finally going to drama school, then whilst she was on a belated gap year travelling through South-East Asia she found out she’d been chosen as a winner of the SCBWI Undiscovered Voices competition with the her first novel, SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE, which launched her writing career and is now published all over the world. See more at- http://www.katiedaleuk.blogspot.com/

Sean Cummings is a fantasy author with a penchant for writing quirky, humorous and dark novels featuring characters that are larger than life.  His debut was the gritty urban fantasy SHADE FRIGHT published in 2010. He followed up later in the year with the sequel FUNERAL PALLOR. His urban fantasy/superhero thriller UNSEEN WORLD was published in 2011.

2012 saw the publication of Sean’s first urban fantasy for young adults. POLTERGEEKS is a rollicking story about teen witch Julie Richards, her dorky boyfriend and race against time to save her mother’s life. The first sequel, STUDENT BODIES is due for publication in September 2013.

Sean Cummings lives in Saskatoon Canada and wonders why he has to write his bio in 3rd person.

Amanda has 3 daughters and writes between loading the dishwasher and burning pizza. Sworn Secret is her first book and will also be published in Italy and Taiwan early next year. Her second book will be published by Cutting Edge Press in May. Amanda’s mum says she wishes she wrote happy books about happy people but Amanda prefers putting families through unnecessary trauma and watching them try and cope. Sworn Secret tells the story of a family who lost a daughter a year before the start of the book. They begin to uncover secrets about her that not only tamper with their recovery but also raise questions over the circumstances of her death.

James Scudamore is the author of the novels Wreaking, Heliopolis and The Amnesia Clinic. He won a Somerset Maugham Award in 2007 and his books have been nominated for the Man Booker Prize, the Costa First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.

I’m a literary agent representing fiction, non-fiction and children’s authors. This year, I launched the first Notting Hill literary festival. It’s called Nibfest and the programme included a write-a-thon where 7 novelists wrote a short story live during the festival weekend, and came back on Sunday night for a Read-off. This summer, my memoir OUR HEARTS HANG FROM THE LEMON TREES came out. The Sunday Times called it ‘beautifully sculpted and tender’; the Financial Times called it ‘wry and remarkable’, welovethisbook say it’s ‘romantic and evocative.’

It’s about family, grief, growing up and how poetry can help save your life.

Chris Salewicz has documented popular culture for more than three decades, in print and on television and radio.

A senior features writer for NME from 1975 to 1981, Salewicz is the author of fifteen books, including the acclaimed Rude Boy: Once Upon a Time in Jamaica; Redemption Song: the Definitive Biography of Joe Strummer, an exhaustive, epic biography of the Clash frontman, a best-seller;  and Bob Marley: the Untold Story, another best-seller.

Chris Salewicz lives in south London.

Marco Mancassola writes about the Erotic Lives in Superheroes, and says “I was born in November 1973 in Vicenza, North-Eastern Italy. Working class family. I currently live in England.”