Suzanne Shaw is a life-long writer who has practiced law and was also trained as a journalist. She began writing historical fiction so she could spend as much time as possible in the 18th and early 19th centuries. She has been fortunate enough to research the historical background and settings of her work in the Bodleian Library, the London Library, and in Cornwall. She lives with her rescue cat in the Pacific Northwest United States. Her first novel was published in 2024.

Bryan J Mason wrote his first novel, Shaking Hands with the Devil, in the late 1980s, but put it away, concluding he was a failed author after failing to get it published. He finally redrafted it and was delighted to find success over thirty years since the first draft.

He has worked as a financial investigator, a mediator and made sound effects for BBC Radio. He is now a full-time crime writer. As well as crime writing he writes regular theatre reviews and co-writes and directs an annual community pantomime.

An Old Tin Can was the first in a new black comedy crime series set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, followed by Dead On published on 5 November 2025. The trilogy will conclude with the ominously titled ‘There Are No Happy Endings’.

He describes his genre as ‘black comedy crime’ and enjoys writing in a historical context, which possibly owes something to being a history graduate, but could just be an aversion to writing about modern forensics and CCTV. He is planning a new series set in a Victorian undertaker’s.

A member of the Crime Writers Association, Society of Authors and Historical Writers Association, he lives in Bristol with his wife and has two children in their twenties. He enjoys swimming, eating out and the theatre, but is never happier than when hanging around in graveyards, which he thinks might come in handy one day.

Susan’s passion for history dates back fifty years and led her to study for a Bachelor of Arts degree in history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is currently a member of the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association, the Society for Renaissance Studies and the Historical Association. Her work has appeared on several historical websites and in magazines and includes guest appearances on historical podcasts. Her blog, The Freelance History Writer, has continuously published over five hundred historical articles since 2012, with an emphasis on European, Tudor, Medieval, Renaissance, Early Modern and women’s history. She is currently working on her third non-fiction book.

My name is Charlie Trumpess, and I am a military historian dedicated to sharing the stories of World War II. I hold a Master’s degree in Military History by Research from the University of Buckingham. I am an Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a member of the Society of Authors.

Growing up in North London, I was surrounded by military history through my father’s collection of historic firearms and militaria. This early exposure sparked a lifelong fascination with military equipment, vehicles, and the stories of those who served, helping to shape my interest in Britain’s elite Guards regiments during the Second World War.

My first book, A History of the Guards Armoured Formations 1941-1945, published by Pen & Sword Military, examines how and why elements of the five Foot Guards regiments—the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish, and Welsh Guards—made the controversial transition from elite infantry to tank warfare.

Drawing on new archival material and veteran testimonies, I trace the Guards Armoured Division and 6th Guards (Tank) Brigade through key operations including D-Day, Operation Goodwood, and Market Garden. My book reveals how these elite infantry units overcame institutional resistance and technical challenges to master armoured warfare, while examining why it took over a decade for the official history of the Guards Armoured Division to be published.

I’m currently working on an exciting new project with Fonthill Media, The Birth of British Special Forces: How the Guards Regiments helped forge the SAS, Commandos and Paras, which examines the Brigade of Guards’ role in developing Britain’s special forces. This work reveals how Guards officers were disproportionately represented in forming Britain’s special forces during World War II.

I document how Guards officers like Bill and David Stirling, Robert Laycock, and Frederick “Boy” Browning leveraged their institutional and social connections to establish the Commandos, SAS, Long Range Desert Group, and Parachute Regiment. This represents the first systematic investigation of how the Brigade of Guards directly influenced the creation of Britain’s special forces, a connection previous histories have treated as incidental.

In addition to writing, I manage The War Years website, bringing military history to life through research, articles, videos, and community engagement. I’m also a member of the Society for Army Historical Research, the Army Records Society, and the 29th Division Association.

These two studies demonstrate how some of Britain’s elite infantry regiments, known for their ceremonial duties and military traditions, became pioneers in armoured warfare and special forces.

I’m available for interviews, book signings, and as a guest on radio, TV, webinars, and podcasts. If you would like to discuss my work or collaborate on a project, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Paul Bernardi studied Anglo-Saxon and Medieval history at the University of Leeds more years ago than he cares to remember. He has been an author of historical fiction since his first novel (a second world war drama) was published in 2017. Since then he has reverted to his favoured period, publishing six more novels (so far) set in 11th century England. Paul Bernardi’s books are published by Sharp Books.

Alice McVeigh has been published by Orion/Hachette in contemporary fiction, by UK’s Unbound in speculative fiction (as Spaulding Taylor) and by Warleigh Hall Press in her current Austenesque series (“McVeigh’s celebrated series” – Publishers Weekly). Her novels have been honoured in the UK Selfies Awards at the 2024 London Book Fair, placed as runner-up in General Fiction for Writer’s Digest and Foreword Indies’ “Book of the Year”, won Kirkus stars and been quarterfinalists in Publishers Weekly‘s BookLife Award.

Alice spent her childhood in Asia in various USA Embassies, her teen years practising cello in McLean, VA, and her entire adulthood in London. She has lived in seven countries and visited 44, mostly touring with top London orchestras. She has long been married to Professor Simon McVeigh, with whom she shares a daughter finishing her PhD at Harvard University, two long-haired dachshunds, an unrequited passion for tennis and a second home in Crete.