Adam Shaw spent the first 17 years of his life growing up within the grounds of the Psychiatric Hospital that his parents lived and worked in. Talking about and observing the effects of what lunacy was started at an early age. All of his early mentors were psychiatric patients so he has a unique experience of lunacy and life. He worked as a nurse for 13 years, working with the physical and mental health of many people with life-altering medical conditions. This book covers his journey into discovering his own lunacy, with the intention that you can reach peace with your own.

Adrian Mackinder is a writer and performer. He has twenty years’ freelance experience scribbling for just about everyone, from The Guardian, British Government and the BBC to Cartoon Network, LEGO and The Beano.

Adrian is also a professional improviser, actor and comedian. Head Writer at Comedy Central UK for five years, he has performed live on stage in the UK, US and mainland Europe. Adrian lives with his family in Copenhagen where he struggles daily with being an Englishman abroad.

Aimee Spillman has always loved books, so much so that 10 years ago, when she found herself in a career she was unhappy with, she quit and set out to pursue her real passion. Training at Windsor Castle; working on the Royal Collection, she now has over 8 years of experience. Running her own business, Woodle Books, she cannot imagine doing anything else. From restoration and bespoke binding to teaching workshops Aimee has now set out to make a book that disperses the mysteries of bookbinding and help show others that bookbinding isn't daunting you just need to have passion and patience to bring some much needed love to your most loved worn books.

Alex and Trevor Morgan are time-served campers and long-distance backpackers, who have spent the night in a tent with a projectile vomiting child and lived to tell the tale. Alex is a journalist and award-winning novelist; Trevor blogs as Lighterhiker and is a passionate wild camper, bikepacker and unashamed gear geek.

Artists Karen Louise Davies and Alice Hendy began Let’s Make Art in the Summer of 2012 in a community hall with their combined stash of art materials and a shared vision for the providing the highest quality art workshops for children and adults. Since then Let’s Make Art has travelled far and wide, taking its playful and stylish workshops to schools, galleries, festivals, fashion houses, parks, cafes, hospitals and libraries.

Alice is an artist and a teacher. Her degree is in primary education and she also has a background in fine art, having studied sculpture. Alice has taught in Finland and the UK, specialising in literacy and art. She works as a photographer in Bristol and beyond.

After discovering plant dyeing in a horticultural book while working as a gardener, Alicia drew on her education in fashion design to experiment with plant dyes and textiles, creating colourful dyes using the plants that grew in the gardens that she worked in. Since growing her passion into a thriving small business, Alicia now spends her time cooking up plant dyes and making textile products in her home studio in the heart of the Wiltshire countryside, where she lives with her husband and son.

Amaia Martin is a fibre artist, interior design enthusiast, environmentalist, and the face behind La Terra Macramé.

Amaia has shared her love for macramé and its mindfulness benefits through workshops in London, where she lives with her other half, Andy, in the hopes of giving busy Londoners a break by exploring their creative side.

To make macramé more accessible to everybody, Amaia created DIY kits that have been sold around the world and supplies a selection of sustainable fibres, aiming to show the world that crafting doesn't have to damage our environment.

Andrew Kiste is a historian and high school teacher who has written about the fascinating stories of the Walt Disney Company. He is the author of the popular book series, A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World and Walt Disney and the 1964-1965 New York Worlds Fair. He lives in North Carolina with his family.

Andrew Norman was born in Newbury, Berkshire, UK in 1943. He was educated in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Midsomer Norton Grammar School, Somerset, UK, and St Edmund Hall, Oxford.

Andrew worked as a general practitioner in Poole, Dorset, before a spinal injury cut short his medical career. He is now an established writer with biographies of Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill, Thomas Hardy, T. E. Lawrence, Adolf Hitler, Agatha Christie, Enid Blyton, Beatrix Potter, Marilyn Monroe, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to his name.

Andrew Roberts is a cricket fan and writer, who was born in Suffolk and became interested in cricket during the first World Cup in 1975. Having played club cricket for over 30 years, Andrew turned his hand to writing a book. This will be his first for White Owl.

Andrew has a popular cricket website, which includes stats, opinions and book reviews: http://www.andrewrobertscricketstatistics.com

Anna Cale is an arts and culture writer who specialises in classic film and television. She has written for a number of publications and websites, including Little White Lies, Film Stories and the British Film Institute, and has also appeared on Radio 4. Her writing subjects are wide ranging, but she has an interest in British cinema of the 1940s, 50s and 60s, and in particular showcasing the role of strong female voices in film culture.

Anton Rippon is an award-winning newspaper columnist, journalist and author of over 30 sports books including Gas Masks for Goalposts: Football in Britain During the Second World War and Hitler’s Olympics: The Story of the 1936 Nazi Games. A former Sunday Telegraph football writer, his sports features appeared in The Times, The Independent, The Guardian, and FourFourTwo magazine. Rippon was named Newspaper Columnist of the Year in the 2017 Midlands Media Awards.

Ashley Jackson, Yorkshire’s favourite artist, has been capturing his artistic passion for God's County in his paintings and sketchbooks for over fifty years. Since opening his first gallery back in 1963, he has become one of the country's leading and most successful landscape watercolourists. His unique evocative and distinctive paintings of brooding moorlands have become synonymous with Yorkshire, and more particular the moors above and around his Gallery situated in the heart of the Pennines, Holmfirth.

Further information can be found at www.ashley-jackson.co.uk

Becci spent her childhood holidays on the family farm in Denmark, and grew up with a love for all things Scandinavian. Originally she trained as an archaeologist (Vikings, of course), before travelling the world and becoming a successful glass artist. She now runs www.hyggestyle.co.uk, an online boutique specialising in Danish and Scandinavian gifts, homewares, recipe and craft ideas. She also teaches bushcraft and survival, lives with her son, cat and chickens, and loves schnapps.

She was nominated as one of the Mumpreneur 100, and has won both BT’s Best Home Business of the Year Award and ITV’s Britain’s Best Dish (best pudding in the South!). Her articles and recipes are regularly featured in the national press, and her products on TV. She has also been a key-note speaker on the topic of hygge and Women in Business at various events.

Becci Mai Ford is a smiley maker who loves colour. A keen crafter who enjoys making a mess, Becci started crafting at a young age and hasn’t stopped since! She is now the founder of Ellbie Co. a mindfulness craft kit company that aims to spread happiness through making!

Inspired by all things cute and a desire to combat anxiety by crafting. Becci currently works in Brighton out of her tiny rainbow filled office space (The make happy corner!). Where she designs new crafty projects, blogs and tries her best to brighten as many peoples days as possible. She is making life up as she goes along - and so far it’s been a lot of fun!

Becki Clark is a multidisciplinary creative designer based in the New Forest with over 8 years experience in the creative industry. Inspired by nature’s flora and fauna and seasonality, Becki’s signature painterly style lends itself to a vast range of projects from botanical painting and brush lettering to surface pattern design and craft DIYS. Her recognisable and relatable style has led to collaborations with Hobbycraft, Seasalt Cornwall and BBC’s Countryfile and Becki’s work often features in print editorial, including Mollie Makes, Homes & Antiques and In The Moment.

Becky Dickinson is a freelance journalist who writes for national newspapers and magazines and runs the website allotmentmum.co.uk. She has also written a number of children's books for schools.

She is passionate about the benefits of gardening, both for physical health and mental wellbeing, and is dedicated to encouraging people of all ages to grow some of their own food.

She lives in Devon with her partner and three children, and an army of slugs she's determined to defeat.

Benedict Bermange inherited his father’s Owzthat rollers at the age of nine and that was the start of a love affair with cricket. He has been part of the ICC Rankings team since the age of twelve and captained Hatfield College while studying at Durham University. In 2006 he joined Sky Sports as their cricket statistician, and in his club cricket career his highest score is 76 and his best bowling figures 6-12.

Brian Jones hails from Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire and was a founder member of the Bradford Astronomical Society. He developed a fascination for astronomy at the age of five when he first saw the stars through a pair of binoculars, and his interest took him into the realms of writing sky guides for local newspapers, appearing on local radio and television, teaching astronomy and space in schools and, in 1985, to become a full time astronomy and space writer. He has penned 17 books to date which have covered a range of astronomy and space-related topics for both children and adults. His passion for bringing an appreciation of the universe to his readers is reflected in his writing.

Brian has edited The Yearbook of Astronomy 2017, 2018 and the upcoming 2020 in the famous series. Head to our Space section to see more.

Cara Medus has made and drawn things for as long as she can remember, but has been seriously crocheting for about 10 years. She became technical editor on 'Simply Crochet' magazine when it launched in 2013, and loved the geeky side of crochet; patterns, charts, numbers, you name it!

Cara now freelances for 'Simply Crochet' and as a crochet designer, and develops training material for crochet designers and tech editors. She often designs garments, but has enjoyed a recent return to amigurumi, as she is more able to match this with her love of illustration. It’s been a joy for Cara to discover Betty and Bert for this book //or book title// and launch them on some new adventures!

Cara lives in Bristol with her husband and sons where she does a bit of singing, yoga and coffee-drinking on the side.

Caroline Frost is a bestselling author, broadcaster and lifelong fan of the Carry On films. One of her earliest memories is of visiting Barbara Windsor backstage after the Christmas pantomime at Richmond Theatre, where the star sweetly let her try on her stage wig. Caroline lives in Ealing, West London where, almost every day, she passes the blue plaque marking Sid James's family home. In researching this book, she has once again laughed her way through all the films in the series.

Charlie Fish is a celebrated short story writer and screenwriter. Since 1996, he has edited www.fictionontheweb.co.uk, the longest-running short story site on the web. He was born in Mount Kisco, New York in 1980; and now lives in south London with his wife and daughters. His first experience of video gaming was a Donkey Kong II Game & Watch, and he has never looked back.

 Charlotte Carroll's general interest in nutrition and health has grown into a passion. 
She is a health coach and blogger with a desire to motivate people to lose weight, change their lifestyles and help people identify their triggers and then overcome them with positive support. 
Changing our behaviours and the way we think about food is fundamental in any diet and her aim is to help people achieve their goals and start the transformation of their new journey.

Eat Yourself Thin is available now - head to our Healthy Living or Food sections for much information.

Charmaine Yabsley is a health and wellbeing author, who writes regularly for newspapers and magazines in the UK and Australia. She is the author of 13 health, nutrition and beauty books, focusing mainly on living a happy, healthy lifestyle. She lives on the Gold Coast, Australia with her husband and two sons.

Since 2003 the author has been photographing the Deep Sky, initially from his home in the UK but since 2012 from his observatory atop a mountain in Spain. Here the air is clear, the surroundings dark and the skies mostly clear. This enables Chris to photograph deep into space, capturing the beauty of such things as star forming regions and distant galaxies. Chris has established a reputation as a leading astro photographer receiving awards, with his photographs and articles being published in numerous magazines. In 2015 Chris made his images available as limited edition wall art, known as ‘Galaxy on Glass’. This successful art business has attracted customers from all over the World, allowing others to enjoy these sensational images in their own homes and offices.

Chris Scullion has been a gamer for over 30 years and first fell in love with the NES at the age of four. He has been a games journalist for the past 12 years, most notably as the longest-running staff member of the Official Nintendo Magazine UK. He’s also written for the likes of Official Xbox Magazine, Official PlayStation Magazine, Nintendo Life, Vice, Retro Gamer, Polygon, The Guardian, Computer & Video Games, GamesMaster and Red Bull, and has appeared on Sky News and BBC News in the past to discuss gaming. He was recently nominated for the Best Critic award by the Games Media Brit List 2018.

Chris Carton was born into a family of movie and game lovers. He cut his teeth on Commodore 64 platformers and Amiga point-and-click adventures like the Monkey Island series and has loved video games ever since. He’s also obsessed with cinema and movies of all genres.

Chris was born in Galway but now lives in Cork, Ireland, with his wife and three kids, who he has bestowed his gaming passion upon!

Clare Albans is a mama, maker and blogger living in Newcastle upon Tyne. A musician and teacher by trade, she found a creative outlet from her day job in crafting and now making is a huge part of her life. She started her blog, Hello! Hooray! in 2012 to share a variety of craft projects as well as recipes and lifestyle posts. Since becoming a mum in 2016 she has found a new focus and passion for embroidery, although Hello! Hooray! still encompasses all of her creative endeavours. Hello! Hooray! has been featured in publications such as Craftseller magazine, and Bibelot Magazine (by author Chloe Owens) and Clare has also appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. In 2020, Clare began working on Hello! Hooray! full-time, and now teaches embroidery workshops in and around Newcastle, as well as selling her patterns, kits and stitched items on her website. She is passionate about sharing the joys of hand embroidery and encouraging people to take time out to be creative!

In 2010, Clare began to explore sustainable living and growing her own food, keeping pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks. Following the successful growth of some vegetables, and some less successfully, she has enjoyed and endured the hands-on experience of the ups and downs of animal husbandry and food growing. She has also grown two children, finding that vegetables are less complicated and don’t answer back.

Clare Macnaughton lives in Wiltshire with her family.

Darren Allford is a self-taught maker of celebration cakes and customised cake toppers. Professionally trained as an executive assistant, Darren has spent the last decade indulging his creative side by creating extravagant visions of his imagination out of fondant and clay and he is delighted to get to share his knowledge and skill in this his debut published work. Darren has completed creative writing courses and enjoys writing both fiction and poetry and has performed at spoken word events in London where he lives. He works out of his home in Walthamstow in East London which also contains his ridiculously large collection of toys, plants and Star Wars memorabilia.

Daryl Baxter is a writer and podcaster from Lincoln, where his work has featured in sites such as WIRED, TechRadar, SUPERJUMP, Den of Geek and many more. Alongside Sonic and Metal Gear, Tomb Raider was a series he grew up with, wanting to create a writing career borne out of games.

He’s interviewed people in the industry such as David Hayter; the voice of Solid Snake, Ed McMillen who co-created Super Meat Boy, and plenty more throughout his career so far.

Dr Andrew Stein is a Consultant Renal and General Physician at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, with 37 years clinical experience in the NHS. He has written five books (for the general public and doctors), makes health educational videos on YouTube (with a GP, Dr James Gill) and runs the MyHSN.co.uk website (about the NHS). Drs Yakup Kilic and James Korolewicz are trainee doctors in London.

Dr Ellen Welch is a GP based in Cumbria. She spent the pandemic working from home as remote GP for an NHS Out of Hours provider, while also looking after her little boy. She has worked in various roles both within the NHS and overseas since qualifying, including a season as a Ski field Medic in New Zealand, an expedition doctor climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, and over ten years as a senior ships doctor on cruise ships around the World. Her prior publications have won awards from both the BMA and the MJA.

At every opportunity when she was a child, ELISABETH GALVIN would jump on her mother’s lap to ask for a story. One of these books was The Railway Children, which began her lifelong love of literature. After studying English and Classics at Durham University, she became a magazine journalist in London, Australia and Hong Kong.

A keen open-water swimmer, Elisabeth recited passages by Jane Austen and the Brontës to herself as she swam across the English Channel to France in 2002 (it took her 10 hours 51 minutes so that’s quite a lot of romantic literature).

Elizabeth Heath is a US-born writer and editor based in central Italy. She is the author of several Rome guidebooks and is an avid traveler and travel journalist. Ms. Heath has degrees in Fine Art and Humanities, and completed doctoral studies in Anthropology and Archaeology, with an emphasis on the interpretation of archaeological sites in Italy.

Emilie Woodger-Smith is on a mission to encourage and inspire people to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Her favorite way to do this is to show others how to make their own beauty and cleaning products at home. A Waste Industry professional by trade, she uses her experience, environmental degree and longtime love of sustainability to create and share natural recipes on her blog and Instagram account.

“It can seem pretty intimidating to live sustainably, as if it’s all or nothing. I aim to show you it only takes a few small changes to have a really big impact. A sustainable lifestyle really can be simple.” Emilie

Instagram - @simply_sustainable_living

Emma Amoscato is an experienced journalist who has written for The Times, The Guardian and The Independent. Emma's two children have multiple food and environmental allergies, and asthma. She writes about her family's experiences on her popular blog FreeFromFarmhouse and is also co-founder and editor of global website AllergyTravels.com.

Eve Menezes Cunningham is a journalist, accredited psychosynthesis counsellor, integrative coach-therapist, clinical supervisor, yoga therapist, NLP (neuro linguistic programming) Master Practitioner, accredited and certified Advanced EFT (emotional freedom technique) Practitioner, crystal therapist and Chair of BACP Coaching.

Gerard Cheshire has written books about natural history for more than two decades. He has an MSc in ecology and is currently reading for his PhD. He spent his formative years studying animals and plants in Dorset and Hampshire, so already had a comprehensive knowledge of fauna and flora as a child, long before embarking on his eventual career as a write and scholar.

Graeme Rushton currently owns Unearthed UK LTD and has been a successful metal detectorist here in the uk for the best part of four decades. He is often seen visiting schools where he actively gives talks on the positive aspects of metal detecting & history, you will also hear him on BBC Radio throughout the year discussing specific aspects of the hobby in general. He detects most weekends in different counties throughout England, making some very interesting discoveries along the way.

Originally a children’s book illustrator, Gretel was an early adopter of needle felting in 2008, when it was still a little known craft in the U.K. Demonstrating her art through her popular blog, ‘Middle of Nowhere’, she began selling her creations worldwide, which she continues to do today.

In 2012, she was approached by the market-leading craft magazine ‘Mollie Makes’ to create her first pattern, which was featured on the front cover. Gretel went on to create many more designs for ‘Mollie Makes’, including a further three front cover features. Her patterns have also been featured in ‘Crafty’, ‘Craftseller’ and other publications.

After the success of her first book, ‘Little Needle felt Animals’, Gretel is now turning her skills to projects designed for crafters who want a contemporary approach to an exciting and fun craft.

Helen is a British freelance journalist, who writes about a wide variety of subjects including aviation, food, travel, culture, science, technology and business. She is also a keen amateur photographer. Helen moved to Paris in 2007 and before going freelance spent three years working in the Paris bureau of news agency Reuters. She lives in the 18th arrondissement of Paris with her husband, two daughters and cat.

Henry Giles caught his first salmon on Scotland's River Conon in 1981. Schooled at Christ's Hospital, he read medieval history at university and has sub-edited and written for newspapers including The Sunday Express and The Evening Standard and also for country and fieldsports magazines. For the last two years he has written on the topic of fishing in the Flyfisher's Journal; Trout & Salmon and Waterlog.

Henry lives in Cambridgeshire with Chloe and Pippa, Yorkshire terrier Lucky and two horses. He blogs about fishing in Scotland, Norway and New Brunswick where he fishes most years.

Holly Lambert has a true passion for puzzles and regularly completes them with her mum and best friend. Since becoming a mum herself in 2018, she has grown her puzzle collection to higher levels and now buys and sells puzzles as well as making her own. A huge change from her former career as a midwife, Holly loves the stress-relieving benefits of puzzles and hopes to pass this on to others through her book. Holly currently resides in Middlesex with her husband, daughter and two cats.

A cosplayer and lover of all things “geek” since they were 15, Holly Rose Swinyard is now a pop culture journalist and editor, running the cosplay magazine, The Cosplay Journal. They have also written on cosplay, pop culture and the need for “escapist play for adults” for national publications and on BBC Radio 4. It would be a shock to find them any where but their sewing machine, or scrawling notes for the next exciting project.

Iain McLaughlin lives in Dundee in a house filled with books. He has written more than fifty books and over fifty plays for radio. He has also written short stories and TV scripts. Iain has written for many famous properties including James Bond, Doctor Who, Blake’s 7 and Sherlock Holmes. He has also written several original thrillers. For a time he was the editor of the Beano comic and has written the Scottish icons, The Broons and Oor Wullie.

Isla Hodgson is a zoologist, wildlife journalist and freelance researcher for natural history film. She is currently based in Scotland, studying for a PhD in conservation conflict (essentially a big excuse for some adventuring).

She has a strong passion for conservation, and her popular blog Where The Wild Things Live was born from a desire to spark that enthusiasm in others, starting with the wildlife we have at home.

She is never happier than when trudging around in the outdoors, preferably with a dog - although she is still working on that...

James D Fair is the environment editor for BBC Wildlife Magazine. He has worked as a natural history magazine journalist for most of the past 20 years, with several interruptions during the 1990's to travel and become the mother of an orphaned Andean bear.

These days, his horizons are slightly more limited, with his chief concern being how to protect his bantams from foxes and grass snakes.

James Harrop is an experienced astrophotographer with a primary interest in the Moon. After years of studying and photographing the Moon, he has built up a wealth of knowledge and experience in lunar photography. His exceptional capture and image processing techniques can be clearly seen in his high-quality images. The use of colour makes his style unique. One of his main goals is to inspire others to take up astronomy and astrophotography by sharing his practical knowledge and easing the journey for anyone who wants to start out in this technically daunting subject. He observes and images the Moon from his home in West Yorkshire where he lives with his wife, children and dog.

James Taylor is now retired from professional cricket and now works in the media. He is a regular pundit for Sky's coverage of the England cricket team, works on the BBC's Test Match Special show and has a column in the Evening Standard. He also works with a number of leading heart charities to raise awareness of heart defects and spends time helping individuals and families who suffer from heart problems.

For more information on his autobiography, James Taylor: Cut Short, go to our Sports section.

Jane Warren is an award-winning senior writer on a national newspaper who has written eight previous books for publishers including Harper Collins and Hodder Headline. For the past decade she has also run Woodland Pie, a picture-framing micro-business, from a studio in her woodland garden. She lives among hazel and oak trees with two children, three strange cats and a mad spaniel. Her long-standing love of carpentry blossomed during the first lockdown of 2020 when she hand-built two shepherds huts.

Jean Vernon writes about wildlife for the RHS Journal - The Garden. She is a contributor to the gardening section of The Daily Telegraph and has written many articles on bees, pollinators and the needs of garden bees. Fascinated by bees and the environment since a youngster, she is a natural tree and bee guardian and passionate about championing bees of all sorts. It is her mission to unravel, demystify and explain the intricate balance of nature in your garden and to introduce you to the familiar and unfamiliar bees that live, breed and breathe within the garden habitat.

Jenni Stuart-Anderson worked in tourism, PR and architectural design. As a new mum, at home, she discovered rag rug making and got hooked. She has shared these vintage fabric recycling techniques since 1986 and believes in sourcing locally and walking lightly on the planet. Rag Rug Making was her first book, followed by More Rag Rugs & Recycled Textile Projects, aiming to keep the traditional craft alive by bringing it into the 21st  century.

Jennifer Selway is a film and TV critic, former editor of the Observer’s TV pages and contributor to the Time Out Film Guide. She is also a playwright and newspaper columnist. She is married, has three grown-up children and lives in Hampshire.

Jenny Tschiesche is one of the UK’s leading nutrition experts and the founder of www.lunchboxdoctor.com, a hugely popular brand. She creates delicious and nutritious recipes for leading brands and health campaigns including BBC Sport, Sport England, Cancer Research UK and The Realbuzz Group. Jenny is a guest nutrition presenter on QVC (the TV shopping channel) and regularly contributes to TV and radio shows including Good Morning Britain and BBC Radio and to newspapers and magazines including The Guardian, The Mail, Zest, Prima and Top Santé.

Check out Gut Health & Probiotics: The Science Behind the Hype in our Healthy Living section.

Jesse Xander is a queer non-binary writer and biological anthropologist who was born in 1991 in Kendal, Cumbria, and moved around the UK a lot in their early years before settling in Cambridgeshire. They discovered Tolkien whilst they were studying Archaeology and Anthropology at Homerton College, Cambridge, thus beginning their ongoing independent research into Middle Earth and its languages by applying anthropological tools to Tolkien's world, with particular focus on the oft-neglected orcs. They have directed multiple plays and short films, and have written everything from academic articles for Beyond The Binary to comedy plays, but this is their first book. Aside from Tolkien and other high fantasy, their pet passions include gothic, sci-fi and psychological horror, noir and superheroes. They live and work in Cambridge with their partner and their partner's sibling, and would very much like to be one of those authors who owns a cat or three.

Jessica Groenendijk is a Dutch biologist with a passion for connecting people with nature. Her work has been published in BBC Wildlife Magazine, Africa Geographic, Earthlines, Earth Island Journal and Zoomorphic, amongst others. Her blog Nature Bytes was Highly Commended in the International Category of the 2015 BBC Wildlife Blogger Awards and she is a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Writers. She was probably an otter in a previous life. 

Visit jessicagroenendijk.com or find her on Twitter and Facebook: @WildWordsAuthor

The Giant Otter: Giants of the Amazon by Jessica Groenendijk can be found in our Nature & Wildlife section.

John Shepherd has been home brewing for many years and he had been running a video production company for ten years when, in 2013, he and a friend decided to set up, from scratch, a craft brewery.

Not coming from a brewing industry background, the only thing they knew about the market prior to setting up the brewery was that people like different types of beers and so that was their goal: to produce a beer for everyone and anyone, but always of the absolute best quality. From lagers to stouts, bitters to pale ales, they believed that whatever your taste; everyone deserves a good beer.

Six years on, having won a number of awards and sold lots of different beers, John stepped back from the brewery on a day to day basis to focus on writing. He is working on other “how to” guides as well as a screenplay, a book of short stories and has successfully submitted comedy material to the BBC.

Judith Wills is one of the UK's best-known and most knowledgeable nutrition and diet experts. She writes regularly for national newspapers and has a regular column in Saga magazine. Judith Wills presents the essential facts in this ultimate guide to all that's good and bad in the food we eat.

Julie Neville is a nutrition specialist who has the passion and desire to make healthy and organic food available to everyone. Her approach to healthy, organic living has often been featured on television: ITV and Lorraine and in the press: The Telegraph, The Sun, The Daily Star, Daily Mail, Vegetarian Living Magazine. 

During her career she has worked with a number of Premiership football clubs, several Championship clubs and the England National teams, as well as a number of elite athletes. 

For more information, follow Julie on Instagram mrsnev18

Artists Karen Louise Davies and Alice Hendy began Let’s Make Art in the Summer of 2012 in a community hall with their combined stash of art materials and a shared vision for the providing the highest quality art workshops for children and adults. Since then Let’s Make Art has travelled far and wide, taking its playful and stylish workshops to schools, galleries, festivals, fashion houses, parks, cafes, hospitals and libraries.

Karen is a designer and art educator. She gained a degree in Textiles and Fashion at UWE, Bristol and has over 14 years’ experience of teaching art in schools. Karen has extensive experience of managing events and workshops for festivals, businesses and registered charities.

Having moved to England in 2006, seeking a new creative community, Karolina now resides in East London with her lovely husband and bouncing baby boy. Here she has found a vibrant hub of inspiration powered by resourcefulness and talent. From octopi to sloths, hippos to cacti, she hopes to inspire you to design from scratch, no more tea cosies and doilies.

Kate Bradbury is an award-winning author and journalist, specialising in wildlife gardening. she edits the wildlife pages of Gardeners' World Magazine and regularly writes articles for the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, The Guardian, RHS Magazine The Garden and BBC Wildlife and BBC Countryfile magazines. In 2015, she became the first Butterfly Ambassador for conservation charity Butterfly Conservation, and she writes a quarterly column for its members' magazine, Butterfly.   

Kate regularly talks at events and festivals, and appears on radio including BBC Gardeners' Question Time. She also makes wildlife gardening videos for gardenersworld.com. 

She lives and breathes wildlife gardening, and is currently transforming a tired north-facing patio garden into a wildlife oasis where she hopes to attract a wealth of creatures including frogs, toads, newts, birds, beetles, hedgehogs, butterflies, not to mention her very favourite, and first love: bees.

Kate's The Wildlife Gardener can be found in our Gardening and Nature & Wildlife sections.

Kate Brian is a journalist and author of four previous books on fertility and pregnancy. She began her career at the BBC and went on to work at Channel Four News where she was Home Affairs Producer. Kate is Women’s Voices Lead at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and is Editor of the Journal of Fertility Counselling. She presented the Radio Four documentaries Banking on Birmingham and The New Viking Invasion.

Lindsey is the face behind Lottie and Albert. A designer of popular modern crochet patterns, she shares her tutorials and makes on Instagram and YouTube to over 30,000 followers. Alongside designing her own patterns, she has also worked as commissioning editor for Mollie Makes magazine, as a yarn ambassador for Hobbycraft, and appeared as a guest judge on Kirstie Allsopp’s Handmade Christmas. She lives in the Cotswolds with 1 husband, 3 children and an uncountable number of balls of yarn.

Louise V. Taylor struggled with long periods of anorexia and bulimia in her teens and early 20s, before breaking free from the disease, overcoming her obsession with food and weight control, and finding better ways to manager her difficult feelings. She has since qualified in nutrition and psychology, and now works as a writer. She's keen to help people gain new-found confidence, move on from difficult circumstances and focus on the good things in life, for a positive future.

Louise's How to Overcome Eating Disorders: Breaking Free for a Better Life book is available in the Self-care & Wellbeing section of our website.

Luke Sutton was a professional cricket player for over 15 years, captaining Derbyshire for a number of years. Although he was primarily a wicket keeper, he was also a very skilled batsman. Now an agent to a number of high profile sports and media stars, Luke is well placed to use his experiences to help others. The Middleman follows Luke’s 2019 autobiography, Back from the Edge.

Marc Burrows is a London based writer, stand up comic and musician, writing regularly for The Guardian, Observer, Drowned in Sound, The Quietus and more. In 2014 he compiled and edited I Think I Can See Where You’re Going Wrong, a collection of the funniest comments from the Guardian website, published by Faber and Faber. People got it for Christmas and read it on the loo, and he was happy with that. He has performed several one-man shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, the most recent of which, Mind Your Head, focused on a lifetime of struggles with his mental health. He also plays bass in the cult punk band, The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing and can be found regularly touring the UK and USA. He discovered the works of Terry Pratchett when his Mum lent him The Colour of Magic as an eleven-year-old, and spent the next week annoying his classmates by reading the funniest bits out loud. He has never looked back. Find him on Twitter at @20thcenturymarc.

Mark is an astronomer, broadcaster, author and all round science fan. At the age of ten he saw Saturn through a telescope which ignited a passion inside him, a passion that has grown steadily ever since. Since those early days, Mark has inspire millions of viewers to get out and enjoy the night sky through his role as a presenter on the RTS nominated show BBC Stargazing LIVE. His passion for reaching out to a new audience has found him working on The One Show, the Alan Titchmarsh Show, This Morning and more recently Good Morning Britain. He is also a regular face on BBC Breakfast and Five News and a regular voice on Radio Five Live.

When not working on TV or radio shows, he is most likely to be writing about science and space having now published nine books, with more in the pipeline, or performing his sell out theatre show “Spectacular Science” at theatres up and down the country.

In 2018 his local university, the University of East Anglia awarded Mark an honorary doctorate for his work in science outreach.

Matthew Appleby is an award-winning garden journalist. He was first to report on ash dieback reaching the UK and has broken numerous stories on biosecurity and on horticulture policy in the last 15 years, as well as consumer issues and trends. He writes for Horticulture Week, the 175-year old industry bible, The Telegraph, Guardian, Evening Standard, Mail, Amateur Gardening, New Zealand Press Association and regional and consumer gardening magazines among others. His previous books include three on cricket and two on gardening: Allotment Planner (2013) and the Children\'s Garden (2016). With this book, he wants to fill the space between the much written about organic gardening and vegan cookery areas, and link in stock-free gardening and wildlife to growing your own.

Michael J. Brown has an MA in Garden History and has been interested in both history and gardening for as long as he can remember. As a child, Michael was allowed to have a patch of ground to grow whatever he liked, including his first poisonous plants. Where his mother called the plants 'weeds', he called them wild flowers. Michael has been a Head Gardener, a college lecturer and designed the medieval gardens at the Prebendal Manor, Nassington, including poisonous plants. He now gives talks and demonstrations on historical gardening.

Michael's debut book, Death in the Garden: Poisonous Plants and their Use Throughout History can be found in our Gardening and Nature sections.

Best known for his many television appearances as a Historical Weapons Expert/ Military Historian, Mike also works as a director and writer for historical documentaries. Other work includes acting as a historical consultant to the video games industry. He is the author of several previous books, including major works such as War Bows and the highly acclaimed Swords and Swordsmen. Mike is British, though for the past 12-years he lived in California, where he co-founded the California Centaurs horse-archery club. He and his wife now live in Portugal. As well as having an interest in swords, bows and horses, Mike has also had a lifelong enthusiasm for dogs. In Dogs: Working Origins and Traditional Tasks, he has been able to blend his love of dogs with his passion for history.

In 2011, professional photographer Mike Olbinski witnessed an incredible sandstorm over Phoenix, Arizona and the time-lapse video that resulted from this catapulted him in to the media spotlight.

Commissioned by ESPN, The Weather Channel and Al Gore's office for use in climate change videos, this became the turning point for Mike's photography career. A wedding photographer by trade, Mike has since had his storm photography and videos licensed by ESPN Superbowl adverts, National Geographic, Arizona Cardinals, State Farm and Marvel Studios culminating in an Emmy Award in 2017.

Mike currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife and three children and runs workshops, storm chasing tours and mentoring sessions.

Monica is an experienced jewellery designer/maker and teacher. She studied Art & Design at the University of Westminster (London), and has an Honours Degree in Early Childhood Studies from the University of Plymouth, and a City & Guilds Teaching Certificate. Monica enjoys helping people of all ages develop their creative skills and, to this end, established the Eclectic School of Jewellery and Design in December 2003. Having lived in London for 15 years, she moved to the South-West, to the charming village of Beer, where she has lived with her family since 2000.

Monty Panesar is one England’s finest spin bowlers and the first ever Sikh to play for his country. He has taken over 700 first-class wickets during his career, which included spells with Northants, Sussex and Essex. He was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, where he lives with his dog, Rambo.

Nadia Cohen is an entertainment journalist who has worked at a number of national newspapers and magazines including Grazia and the Daily Mail. As a show-business correspondent she covered film festivals, premieres and award ceremonies around the world. Nadia was headhunted for the launch of a new American magazine, In Touch Weekly, and spent several years living and working in New York. She now lives in London and juggles family life with writing contemporary and historical biographies.

Neil Clark is a journalist, broadcaster, author and award-winning blogger. He has contributed numerous articles to leading newspapers, magazines and websites including the Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Express and the Racing Post and is a regular pundit on current affairs and sport on television and radio. He is the author of Flying Ace: A Racing Legend (1992), Stranger than Fiction, the biography of Edgar Wallace (2014) , and also contributed to the Great Racing Gambles and Frauds series.

Nicholas Milton is an ornithologist, historian and a journalist. He has worked for The BBC Natural History Unit, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Wildlife Trusts and Greenpeace and has also written extensively about the Second World War for The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Daily Mail and The Independent. His first book, Neville Chamberlain's Legacy, was published by Pen and Sword in 2019.

Nile Wilson is an Olympic, Commonwealth and World Championship medal-winning gymnast. His YouTube channel, which now has over a million subscribers, includes videos that are not only educational, but also highly entertaining and to date have been viewed over 150 million times. Nile has his own merchandise range and is deeply passionate about getting youngsters into gymnastics. This autobiography is his second book for Whilte Book, his first being 'Raising the Bar'.

Patsy Westcott is an award-winning freelance journalist, author and copywriter specialising in health, medicine and nutrition, especially for women aged 50+. She currently contributes regular features to Woman & Home, Saga, Waitrose, Healthspan and many others. She is also health editor and 'voice of Victoria' victoria.co.uk a website aimed at women of a certain age as well as doing medical backgrounders for a variety of companies.

Nuts and Seeds: Improving Your Health will be available for pre-order in 2019. Keep your eyes peeled on our Healthy Living section for more information.

Paul Laird is a writer and podcaster who has been celebrating and critiquing Britpop since 2015. His Britpop memories offer a unique insight into the era. As well as writing about Britpop he is a regular contributor to BBC Radio Scotland’s “Classic Scottish Albums” podcast.

Paula Greenspan is a Canadian-born journalist and health editor in the UK. With a background in women's magazines, Paula is the former health editor of Pick Me Up! and has written for publications such as Metro, The Mirror and Prima Baby. Having suffered with migraines for most of her adult life, it was when Paula found herself having a migraine attack with aura whilst at a toddler group with her 2-year-old that she decided to take migraine prevention more seriously. The idea for Migraine Free For Free came from Paula's efforts to keep her own head clear.

Migraines are the sixth most disabling condition in the world. Understanding how the disorder affects you can help you to treat - and even prevent - an attack.

Be Healthy Magazine

Patient.info website

Paula Steel is a modern quilter who designs and produces quilts and patchwork projects for magazines and fabric companies. She is a freelance Quilting Technical Editor and loves the combination of maths and colour that designing quilts involves. Paula lives in Lancashire and spends time in her sewing studio at home.

Phil Woods is the author of four books including this one, the previous three being a children's book and two comedy titles. He has been a motorsport journalist since 2014, having been editor of two magazines, and a Formula One specialist. He currently still writes for Paddock Magazine, often trusted to write their season previews and reviews. Phil has also written many comedy sketches, having had a selection of the best performed on stage in Lancaster, UK. Phil enjoys acting too, having played a part in a sitcom in 2019.

Phil has followed football since 1977 and in his role as a journalist has written many articles, match reports and interviews over the past 30 years.

Rachael Martin is a British writer who has lived just north of Milan for over twenty years. She writes about travel, culture, the arts and food in Italy for online and print publications. She has a special interest in the city of Milan and its fashion history, and in the stories of the women involved.

Rik Worth is a freelance journalist and writer from the north of England. When he isn’t writing about culture and class he writes comics about history. He has bylines in The Independent, Huffington Post UK and Prospect Magazine. His most recent comic, Hocus Pocus, with Richard Wiseman and Jordan Collver, looks at magic, the supernatural and science. This is his first book without cartoons (mostly). You can follow his rants on twitter at @RikWorth

Rodney McCance is an author from Belfast, Northern Ireland. His stories have been featured in comic anthologies by Source Point Press, Markosia, Gray Haven Comics, Swamp Line Comics, Future Quake Press and other independent comics in Europe and the United States. He has a mini-series called Sirius due for worldwide release this year and other projects in development. He runs his own small press comics publisher, which has released three titles – Tales Of The Fractured Mind, The Burning Memory and Tales Of Fractured Worlds. His debut novel The Forverlands is due for release in 2020. He is a graduate of Film Studies and English at Queens University Belfast and he is a lover and scholar of comics books, having written articles about comics for various websites and newspapers. He is also a co-host on the Coffee & Heroes Podcast.

Rose Sgueglia is a writer, journalist and marketing consultant based in Cardiff. She is the founder of Miss Squiggles, a digital magazine and content agency. Her work has been published in different publications including GQ, La Repubblica, Yahoo and WI Life (a magazine for members of The Women’s Institute).

She holds a BA in Journalism, Film and Media and a Post Graduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism from Cardiff University. She is currently working on her PhD in Media Studies with a research project on the impact material culture and audio-visual material has had on Chanel.

Ruby Boukabou is an entertainer and a writer/reporter specialising in travel, culture and lifestyle. She freelances to magazines, newspapers, stations and websites around the globe. Previous titles include 48 Paris (National Geographic), The Art Lover’s Guide to Paris (White Owl) and Sense in the City - Paris. Her tap dancing alter ego has appeared under various names in the bars, music halls, theatres and clubs of Paris and in clips set on and around its bridges, streets, bookshops and waterways.

Sam Quek was born in the Wirral on Merseyside on October 18, 1988. She attended Birkenhead High School and Calday Grange Grammar School. Sam decided that she wanted to stay fairly close to home and studied a BSc in Sport and Exercise at Leeds Metropolitan University in 2010. She won her first international cap while studying at university. the hockey star is also a loyal supporter of Liverpool F.C. and regularly presents for the club's official TV channel.

Sam's autobiography – Hope & A Hockey Stick is available in our Sports section now.

Sarah Durber is a self-proclaimed plant lady. Her interest in indoor gardens started when she was finding city life grey and gloomy, and her mental and physical health started to suffer.

Sarah started to fill her home with plants, however she found it frustrating that she could not find a one stop shop for good looking plants that were low maintenance and came with inexpensive but stylish pots. She started an urban plant shop, and soon expanded to installing plants into office & work spaces.

Self-taught, Sarah wants to share her knowledge and bring together in one place the answers to the questions she is most frequently asked by customers and friends whenever plant conversations take place.

Sarah Milne was born in Hastings but has lived in around London most of her life. Sarah is a life-long book lover. Since childhood, she has enjoyed discovering all about anywhere she visits (and dreams of visiting) through the area’s stories and literature. Sarah is a journalist and freelance writer with a passion for writing both fiction and non-fiction, especially when it is about stories and books!

Sian Lye is a journalist who has written for a wide variety of national newspapers and magazines, including The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, ShortList, Esquire and Marie Claire. Sian has spent several years living abroad in Japan, and most recently in Switzerland. She now lives in Brighton, and balances writing with family life.

Simon Wills is a history journalist and genealogist who writes regularly for magazines such as Your Family History and Family Tree. He has appeared in the TV programme Who do You Think You Are? and contributes to the magazine. He is also a dedicated wildlife photographer, and all the photographs in this book were taken by him.

Sophie was born and raised by the sea in Runswick Bay, close to Whitby on the North Yorkshire coast. Born into a successful entrepreneurial family, it wasn't long before she was to follow her own callings and establish a floristry business, 'Ginger & Flynn', whose name was inspired after one of her sons and her ginger hair!

Sophie lives with her husband Andy, and four boys, Hughie, Flynn, Samson and Kit. They have four dogs, chickens, a cat and a horse, 'Lady' - and their lifestyle is just the right balance of mayhem and love.

Sophie’s home is her workplace, and being tucked away in the North York Moors surrounded by nature deeply inspires her work and everyday creativity.

She has spent 20 years volunteering on Conservation Projects throughout the UK and Africa, including working with the Green Team at the Eden Project in Cornwall. Her interests took her in different directions, and she has worked extensively in horticulture, whilst completing a degree in Environmental Studies and Creative Writing at the Open University. Sophie was first intrigued by the idea of British native breeds when she saw a stand at Countryfile Live in August 2016. She is hoping this book will encourage others to keep a rare breed. This book is unique amongst previous books on Rare Breeds, as it covers each and every one of the animals and poultry on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) Watchlist. Since the Trust was formed in 1973, no British Rare Breed has become extinct. They do valuable work on genetics as well as keeping up to date records of numbers, which they obtain from breed societies.

 Sophie Michell’s first encounters with cooking were with her grandmother when she was just four years old. She would go onto become the UK’s youngest female Executive Chef and has launched a number of successful restaurants.

Sophie has also carved out a successful career away from the kitchen as a TV presenter on a number of smash hit TV shows, and as an established author and food writer. In addition to this, Sophie has worked as an ambassador and consultant to heavyweight global brands and has been on the judging panel for a number of renowned food award panels.

Sophie is well-regarded by the press and has appeared in and contributed to countless titles from Grazia, YOU, Stella and Healthy Magazine to The Telegraph, The Times, Guardian Weekend and Observer Food Monthly.

Being sugar-intolerant, Sophie has created Baking Without Sugar with passion and experience of the subject, and with a view to helping everyone that wants to bake a little more healthily.

Find this book in our Healthy Living and Food sections.

Suzanne Elsworth is a freelance journalist, editor and copywriter. Her early camping featured rain, family chaos and teenage misery, then she discovered it was an amazing escape. Suzanne likes to mix cost-effective cheats with little luxuries, making every trip one to enjoy rather than endure.

Teagan Sturmer is an embroidery artist and writer living on the feisty shores of Lake Superior. When she isn’t stitching or crafting words with a pen, she directs and acts in local theatre productions. She lives with her husband Brice, who owns and operates a coffee roastery in their hometown. Teagan is never without a needle and thread and has been known to carry Shakespeare around with her wherever she goes.

Tina O Rourke is a crafter, pattern designer and founder of Miss Daisy Patterns, an online platform with sewing tutorials and popular sewing patterns for dolls and soft creatures. Her work has appeared in publications such as Mollie Makes and Simply Sewing Magazines. She lives in Galway, Ireland with her husband Alan and their Springer Spaniel Missy.

Tina runs a successful craft based website from her home on the West Coast of Ireland. Being crafty and design oriented Tina trained as an interior designer and specialised in holistic design and colour therapy before setting up her first sewing and design based business, Missy Bonkers, in 2009.

Progressing on to Miss Daisy Patterns, Tina’s work now covers the disciplines of pattern drafting and design using textiles, felt, hand & machine embroidery, crochet and graphic design.

Alex and Trevor Morgan are time-served campers and long-distance backpackers, who have spent the night in a tent with a projectile vomiting child and lived to tell the tale. Alex is a journalist and award-winning novelist; Trevor blogs as Lighterhiker and is a passionate wild camper, bikepacker and unashamed gear geek.

Over the past few years, Villager Jim has been photographing wildlife in his own garden as well as in the beautiful countryside that surrounds his home in the Derbyshire Peak District.

Amongst his subjects are pictures of his own beloved Labrador dogs, as well as farmyard animals, and the flora, fauna and spectacular landscapes around him.

Having built up a huge international presence on Facebook, Villager Jim's thousands of followers enjoy his out of the ordinary compositions and the humorous angle of his captions. 

Villager Jim has appeared twice on BBC's Countryfile, and was the editor's choice in the British Wildlife Photography Awards in 2013. Winning a Springwatch competition (beating 50,000 others), his images are often shown by the Springwatch and Autumnwatch team. He is also an official Designated Photography Partner for the Peak District tourism board.

In spite of his popularity, Villager Jim remains anonymous, while his photographs speak for themselves. Read more about his at villagerjimsshop.com, where you can also find a selection of greetings cards, calendars and many other items that feature his photographs.

For all of Villager Jim's books, check out our Nature & Wildlife or Photography sections.