Peter Tonkin retired after 42 years as a teacher of English, History and Law (which he also examined for the Oxford and Cambridge board) in March 2016. During his time as a teacher he published 38 novels: 30 in the Mariner series of international action-adventures. 4 in the Master of Defence series of Elizabethan murder mysteries, and 4 occasional novels including the international best-seller Killer and the vampire story The Journal of Edwin Underhill. Since retiring, he has added another 2 titles to the Master of Defence series, written 5 spy stories set in Ancient Rome (Caesar’s Spies) tracing events between Caesar’s murder and the battle of Philippi and three murder mysteries set during the build-up to the Trojan War (The Trojan Murders). He has just completed the fifth of a proposed six-book series (the Queen’s Intelligencer series) following the adventures of Elizabethan spy and assassin Robert Poley, an actual historical figure most famous for the unmasking of the Babington Plot – which led to the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (Shadow of a Queen). Sharpe Books October 2025)- and the murder of playwright Christopher Marlowe (proposed title Shadow of a Spy). Tonkin and his wife of 45 years Charmaine, who is also his editor, travel widely researching his books. Since their two sons set up home for themselves, Peter and Charmaine have travelled more widely still. They have recently returned from Madrid where they visited Philip II’s Escorial monastery/palace researching Shadow of Poison (long-listed for the inaugural Spymasters literary prize) and Shadow of a Spy, the final book in the series. They have visited many places associated with the Queen of Scots including Edinburgh, Jedburgh and Carlisle researching the most recent book Shadow of a Queen. They have also visited Ischia, Capri, Rome many times, Paris and Marseilles in recent years, as well as Egypt, which they first visited in search of Cleopatra, but to which they now return regularly, currently in preparation for a new project to begin after the Queen’s Intelligencer series is complete. Peter Tonkin’s novels and short stories are listed on Fantastic Fiction. They are also presented in many editions on: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001K8TDVS/allbooks

Matthew Carr is a writer, journalist and the author of several critically acclaimed works of fiction and non fiction, which cover a variety of different genres from memoir and reportage to historical crime ficiton. A lifelong Hispanophile, his books are often concerned with Spanish or Latin American history. He writes a weekly Substack newsletter at: mattcarr.substack.com. He co-hosts the podcast ‘Grim Up North’: a podcast from the North, about the North. He lives in Sheffield with his wife and two cats.

A nomadic life has seen Anglo-Australian Apple Gidley live and work in twelve countries—the cultures and experiences of which influence her writing. Her roles have included editor for a global charity magazine, honorary consul, and dive bum, among others. After ten years in the Caribbean, Gidley relocated to Cambridgeshire, England in 2023, which has arguably been her most challenging relocation. Her seventh book, and fourth historical novel, Annie’s Day, was released by Vine Leaves Press in November 2025, and is a finalist in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, as well as an Editor’s Choice in the Historical Novels Review. She is currently researching her next book.

Glenda lives in the northeast where her saga novels are set. Her trilogy of sagas begins with The Toffee Factory Girls. The books are inspired by Horner’s Toffee Factory and Dainty Dinah toffee of Chester-le-Street, County Durham.

Her Ryhope sagas are set in the mining village where she grew up in the northeast. These are standalone books and can be ready in any order.

Her novel THE PAPER MILL GIRL received a commendation from the British Association of Paper Historians for accuracy of her research.

Glenda also writes Scarborough cosy crimes. These were shortlisted with Richard Osman and Val McDermid in the Dead Good Readers’ Awards 2022 for Best New Crime Series in their New Kid on the Block category.

Glenda has also built an impressive reputation as an award-winning short story writer. Her stories have been published in Take a Break, My Weekly, The People’s Friend, Best and newspapers including The Sunday Post, The Sun’s Fabulous magazine, The Mirror and The Express.

And she was one of six finalists in the coveted Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais Comedy Award.

Plus, Glenda has a unique claim to fame! She’s creator of the first ever weekly soap opera Riverside to appear in The People’s Friend, the longest running women’s magazine in the world. Riverside is now available as an audio drama at riversidethesoap.com

A life-long fan of the soap opera Coronation Street, Glenda was commissioned by ITV to write official TV tie-In books about the show.

Daniele-Hadi Irandoost is a doctoral researcher based at the University of Glasgow and works at the intersection of military history, intelligence, and surveillance studies. In addition to contributions to social science, he is also the author of two books on espionage in the First World War and the Cold War, a book of historical essays on diplomacy, and has written a volume on the philosophy of education, each published by Manticore Press. Grounded in his immigrant experience and historical imagination, Daniele draws on literary fiction to challenge conventional creative non-fiction. He is a qualified teacher in history. He founded and curated five TEDxLambeth events between 2019 and 2022, one of which was sponsored by the Armed Forces Day. He is a Fellow of the Society for Education and Training (FSET), a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society (FRAS), and a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute (FRAI), and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS).

Jill lives on the Island of Guernsey now, but is originally from Yorkshire. She has a love of early medieval history which led her to study the subject at Huddersfield College in the 1980’s. Working in Leeds at the time, meant that she had access to the Yorkshire Archaeological Society on their late night opening and following research, she wondered what the lives of the people she read about were actually like. This started a love of writing historical fiction, but her initial stories were never sent to a publisher. Life and work then intervened and writing was put to one side. It was only following a workshop held by the Guernsey Literary Festival in 2024 on writing historical fiction, that her love of writing was reignited. Her first novel ‘A Brotherly Devotion’ was published in July 2025.