Our Authors
Dwight Kemper:
The author of The Vampire's Tomb Mystery, one of our first projects. He has also written other books including Who Framed Boris Karloff and Bela Legosi and the House of Doom. A self confessed horror and monster movie fan Dwight has been nominated several times for the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award. In his spare time he is an amateur powerlifter and has participated in several powerlifting competitions. No stranger to performance himself, he is also a stage illusionist and member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. As Murder for Hire’s Producer and host sleuth Detective Chief Inspector Kemper of Scotland Yard, he presents original mystery plays for hotels and bed and breakfasts throughout the United States.
The author of The Vampire's Tomb Mystery, one of our first projects. He has also written other books including Who Framed Boris Karloff and Bela Legosi and the House of Doom. A self confessed horror and monster movie fan Dwight has been nominated several times for the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award. In his spare time he is an amateur powerlifter and has participated in several powerlifting competitions. No stranger to performance himself, he is also a stage illusionist and member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. As Murder for Hire’s Producer and host sleuth Detective Chief Inspector Kemper of Scotland Yard, he presents original mystery plays for hotels and bed and breakfasts throughout the United States.
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Gemma Gary:
Author of Traditional Witchcraft and Black Toad. She is an author and illustrator of books on witchcraft, magic and folklore. A long time resident of Cornwall, her written work explores witchcraft and folk magical traditions, often with a focus upon these traditions as found in Devonshire and Cornwall. Pictured here with her dog Inky, Gemma is currently working on a number of other book projects relating to operative magic, traditional witchcraft, folklore and ancient sacred loci. |
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Sophia Kingshill:
Before writing Mermaids (Little Toller, 2015), Sophia Kingshill worked with the late Jennifer Westwood, and is co-author of The Lore of Scotland (Random House, 2009) and The Fabled Coast (Random House, 2012), a collection of British sea legend. She is now a fiction writer too, and her Young Adult novel Between the Raven and the Dove will be published by Accent Press in May 2017, the first in what she hopes will be a series of Witchwork stories: visit the link below for details |
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Alex Langstone:
Poet, folklorist and landscape mysteries researcher, Alex has been involved in esoteric exploration and experimentation since the mid-1980s. He has written about his interaction with magic, folklore and mysticism through the controversial medium of psychic questing. He lives in a remote Georgian farmhouse in the beautiful Camel Valley, North Cornwall, close to the western edge of the wild, rugged and archaeologically rich Bodmin Moor. |
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Richard Dee:
A native of Brixham but very wildly traveled owing in no small part to his time in the merchant navy. A qualified master mariner, he has also been a Dockmaster, Insurance surveyor and Thames river pilot with the London Port Authority. It was during this time he appeared on National Geographic's "Megacities" talking about his experiences. He start writing and blogging in 2010 and since then has released three novels and a collection of his many short stories. In his spare time he bakes bread for his friends and family. |
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Jonathan Green:
A freelance writer of speculative fiction, with more than sixty books to his name. Well known for his contributions to the Fighting Fantasy range of adventure gamebooks, and numerous Black Library publications, He has also written fiction for such diverse properties as Doctor Who, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Sonic the Hedgehog, Judge Dredd, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He is the creator of the Pax Britannia series of books and has also written several non-fiction titles including Match Wits with the Kids, Christmas Explained: Robins, Kings and Brussel Sprouts, and YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks. |
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JT Scott:
JT Scott is the author of the Sammy Rambles books about a boy who receives a dragon egg on his first day at his new school. She lives in Devon and enjoys visiting ancient castles and exploring the countryside, which provide the background for Sammy's adventures. She says "It has been a great privilege working with Circle of Spears on the Sammy Rambles audio books which bring the characters to life." More information about the Sammy Rambles series can be found at the link below. |
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Jen Lohr:
Jen has been writing short stories since she was a child, and was first published at age 15 in her high school newspaper for a Poe inspired piece. Over the next 20 years Jen had more of her poetry published in a compilation book but continued writing for her own satisfaction alone, opting to keep her work personal. Fast forward to 2013: after adding the roles of wife and mother of four young children to her list of achievements, she decided it was time to bring her dream of writing a novel to fruition and began working on a new piece. This time, inspired by the Icelandic skald, Egil Skallagrímsson, Jen latched on to one of his characters from the epic 'Egil's Saga', Helga Thorfinnsdottir. After seeing a blank canvas in the young woman, Jen later debuted her first historical fiction: 'Baltic Mist - A Timeless Saga'. Book One of a three-part trilogy was successfully self-published in early 2014 by Jen's own publishing company, "An Ancient Approach." Since then Jen has released 2 children's books, and hopes to have the second installment of 'Baltic Mist' printed within the coming year. |
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Margaret Addison:
Margaret is the author of the Rose Simpson Murder Mystery series the first of which was released in 2013. She has always been a great fan of murder mystery stories and was inspired to start writing her own after directing the Agatha Christie play "The Hollow" for her local drama company. When her first book, Murder at Ashgrove House became a success it quickly spawned a number of sequels. |
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Stephen Mullaney-Westwood:
Stephen is a writer of dark, yet enlightening, fiction exploring folklore, nature, and the nature of man. His debut novel 'Forgotten Things' has a backdrop of Cornish faerylore, yet is also a spiritual coming of age tale, set in the 1980s; Stephen's own generation. It was a time when children still had adventures in the countryside, and enjoyed an innocent belief of hidden magic. This is something Stephen feels has been forgotten in the technical age, just as elements of folklore have been slowly filtered down into fantasy. Reminding us of our roots is important to Stephen, a self proclaimed 'voice of the woodland realms' and eco-philosopher. Having suffered mental health issues trying to 'fit in' to the modern world, and having written a successful, published biography about those times, Stephen found his true place was with the trees, and with writing fiction, taking his inspirations more from writers such as Wilde and Poe than from any modern counterparts. A contemporary writer of folktales, with a collection of his short stories also available, Stephen's work has been globally well received, featured in several pagan publications, and positively reviewed. He is currently writing his second novel. |
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David Wake:
David Wake started writing for the theatre in 1998, with 18 plays produced, winning awards and taking two shows to the Edinburgh Fringe. It was while taking an MA in Creative Writing at Birmingham City University that he was introduced to Indie Publishing. He’s published five novels: I, Phone (Eastercon 2013), The Derring-Do Club and the Empire of the Dead (ArmadaCon 2013, where he was a Guest of Honour), Hashtag (Eastercon 2014), and continued his steampunk series with The Derring-Do Club and the Year of the Chrononauts (Worldcon 2014) and The Derring-Do Club and the Invasion of the Grey (Mancunicon 2016). He co-founded New Street Authors with Andy Conway, which is a collective of Birmingham based independent publishers. |
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Bob Simms:
Bob Simms is now self-unemployed after varied careers in a bank, the police, retail and finally many years in I.T. He thought retirement would give him more time to pursue his passions of writing, portraiture and brewing. He was wrong. Nowadays he spends his early retirement planning his escape to Portugal and trying to keep his wife happy. He will leave it to the reader which is easier or more likely to be achieved. |
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Eric Brown:
The author of Starship Seasons. Born in Yorkshire, Eric began writing in 1975. His first publication came in 1982 in the form of a play for children, Noel's Ark. Writing extensively through the 80s for Interzone magazine, he won numerous accolades including their 1988 most admired story with "The Time-Lapsed Man". Over the course of his career he has written over 60 books and 150 short stories, and has been nominated for the British Science fiction award 5 times, winning it twice. He writes a monthly review column for The Guardian newspaper and has collaborated with other well-known British SF authors such as Stephan Baxter, Keith Brooke and Tony Ballantyne. He now lives in Cockburnspath, Scotland, with his wife and daughter. |
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David Tallerman:
David Tallerman is the author of the YA fantasy series The Black River Chronicles, which began in late 2016 with Level One and continued in 2017 with The Ursvaal Exchange, the Tales of Easie Damasco series - consisting of Giant Thief, Crown Thief and Prince Thief - and the novella Patchwerk. His comics work includes the absurdist steampunk graphic novel Endangered Weapon B: Mechanimal Science (with artist Bob Molesworth), and his crime novel debut is due late in 2018, in the shape of The Bad Neighbour, from Flame Tree Publishing. David's short fiction has appeared in around eighty markets, including Clarkesworld, Nightmare, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. A number of his best dark fantasy and horror stories were gathered together in his debut collection The Sign in the Moonlight and Other Stories. |
Phillipa Bowers:
Phillipa lives close to the ruins of the abbey that inspired The Dark Well of Glastonbury. Her other books include The Wise Woman’s Tale and the Secrets of the Cave.
She also makes ceramic sculpture and paints in watercolours.
Phillipa lives close to the ruins of the abbey that inspired The Dark Well of Glastonbury. Her other books include The Wise Woman’s Tale and the Secrets of the Cave.
She also makes ceramic sculpture and paints in watercolours.
Dedra L Stevenson:
Dedra L. Stevenson, a former resident of Greensboro Alabama, now resides in Sharjah, UAE, and has been an Instructor at Zayed University, and is now the Co-Founder of the UAE Chapter of Women in Film and Television. Her other work includes the Hakima’s Tale trilogy, Desert Magnolia, The Skinwalker: Resurrection, Breaking Bread Around the World, and Tales of the Lantern as well as the upcoming titles: Ifreet, The Divine Spark, and the children’s series, The Magic Carpet. She’s the Co-Managing Director at Blue Jinni Media and the Executive Producer of the award winning short Documentary, Lemonade and the upcoming documentary, Just a Girl.
Holding a BA in Political Science and two Master’s Degrees, one in Library Science and one in Communication, she’s been living in the United Arab Emirates with her psychologist husband, Dr. Hussain Maseeh, and her 4 children for the last 28 years. She’s had a successful career and family life, and speaks at various venues throughout the UAE about fostering creativity and writing, and her books are produced by Rodney W. Harper, her partner at Blue Jinni Media.
Dedra L. Stevenson, a former resident of Greensboro Alabama, now resides in Sharjah, UAE, and has been an Instructor at Zayed University, and is now the Co-Founder of the UAE Chapter of Women in Film and Television. Her other work includes the Hakima’s Tale trilogy, Desert Magnolia, The Skinwalker: Resurrection, Breaking Bread Around the World, and Tales of the Lantern as well as the upcoming titles: Ifreet, The Divine Spark, and the children’s series, The Magic Carpet. She’s the Co-Managing Director at Blue Jinni Media and the Executive Producer of the award winning short Documentary, Lemonade and the upcoming documentary, Just a Girl.
Holding a BA in Political Science and two Master’s Degrees, one in Library Science and one in Communication, she’s been living in the United Arab Emirates with her psychologist husband, Dr. Hussain Maseeh, and her 4 children for the last 28 years. She’s had a successful career and family life, and speaks at various venues throughout the UAE about fostering creativity and writing, and her books are produced by Rodney W. Harper, her partner at Blue Jinni Media.
Peter F Jemison:
Peter F Jemison began writing when he took early retirement. His career consisted of over twenty years as a senior metallurgist in the Iron & Steel Industry, a spell of science teaching and finally he started and developed his own insurance broking business.
He is the author of three crime novels, The Causio Contracts, The Unspeakables and Castle Douglas. They all began life as digital books and the first two are now paperbacks available from Amazon, Waterstones etc. The abiding feature of his work is he has used his wide experience in both the commercial and industrial worlds to craft fast-paced, compelling novels where the principal characters are vividly real.
He is married with two adult offspring and lives in the upper reaches of the Tyne Valley.
Peter F Jemison began writing when he took early retirement. His career consisted of over twenty years as a senior metallurgist in the Iron & Steel Industry, a spell of science teaching and finally he started and developed his own insurance broking business.
He is the author of three crime novels, The Causio Contracts, The Unspeakables and Castle Douglas. They all began life as digital books and the first two are now paperbacks available from Amazon, Waterstones etc. The abiding feature of his work is he has used his wide experience in both the commercial and industrial worlds to craft fast-paced, compelling novels where the principal characters are vividly real.
He is married with two adult offspring and lives in the upper reaches of the Tyne Valley.
Janet Few inhabits the past. You may find her lurking in her four-hundred-year-old North
Devon cottage, or spot her thinly disguised as the formidable Mistress Agnes. This alter ego is a
goodwife of a certain age, who leads a somewhat chaotic life during the mid-seventeenth century.
One way or another, most of Janet’s time is spent working to inspire others with a love of
history, heritage and the written word.
In a vain effort to support her incurable book buying habit, in the past, Janet has been known to
pull the odd pint or two, sell hamsters and support very special schoolchildren. Somewhere
along the way, she acquired a doctorate in community history “for fun”. Janet has an
international reputation as a family historian, giving presentations across the English-speaking
world. She has written several non-fiction history books. Barefoot on the Cobbles was her first novel,
her second Sins as Red as Scarlet is based on another North Devon tragedy.
Any time that Janet can carve from her history-obsessed existence, is spent embarrassing her
descendants, travelling and trying to make her garden behave itself. Janet is fascinated by human
behaviour, past and present, real and fictional. She loves the wonderful Devon landscape and
leading her grandchildren astray.
Keep in touch with Janet Few via her website and blog thehistoryinterpreter.wordpress.com or
by following her on Twitter @janetfew
Devon cottage, or spot her thinly disguised as the formidable Mistress Agnes. This alter ego is a
goodwife of a certain age, who leads a somewhat chaotic life during the mid-seventeenth century.
One way or another, most of Janet’s time is spent working to inspire others with a love of
history, heritage and the written word.
In a vain effort to support her incurable book buying habit, in the past, Janet has been known to
pull the odd pint or two, sell hamsters and support very special schoolchildren. Somewhere
along the way, she acquired a doctorate in community history “for fun”. Janet has an
international reputation as a family historian, giving presentations across the English-speaking
world. She has written several non-fiction history books. Barefoot on the Cobbles was her first novel,
her second Sins as Red as Scarlet is based on another North Devon tragedy.
Any time that Janet can carve from her history-obsessed existence, is spent embarrassing her
descendants, travelling and trying to make her garden behave itself. Janet is fascinated by human
behaviour, past and present, real and fictional. She loves the wonderful Devon landscape and
leading her grandchildren astray.
Keep in touch with Janet Few via her website and blog thehistoryinterpreter.wordpress.com or
by following her on Twitter @janetfew
Richard was born in Northumberland, Northern England, too many years ago to remember now, and teaches History for a living. His first novel, 'Minstrel's Bargain' spawned two sequels; 'Minstrel's Renaissance' and 'Minstrel's Requiem', three books that cover 30 years of one man's fight against the evil entity named Minstrel. Along with a couple of short-story anthologies 'A Hatful of Shadows' and 'Nightmares and Daydreams' he has also written 'Point of Contact', a Sci-Fi chiller, and 'A Life Eternal', a speculative historical novel that was long-listed for the Guardian's 'Not the Booker Prize'. He now lives in Newcastle where he continues to write whenever he can. When not writing, or putting children on detention, he can be found pottering around the Northumberland landscape on his motorcycle, Tanya.
Richard is on twitter at @ayre_richard
Richard is on twitter at @ayre_richard
