Website: www.gkholloway.co.uk
CAROL McGRATH
Carol lives in Oxfordshire, England, with her family. She has an MA in Creative Writing from The Seamus Heaney Centre, Queens University, Belfast, followed by an MPhil in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London, and read medieval history in her first year at Queens University Belfast.
Her debut novel, The Handfasted Wife, is the first in a trilogy about the royal women of 1066 entitled The Daughters of Hastings, was shortlisted for the RoNAS, 2014 in the historical category. The Swan-Daughter and The Betrothed Sister followed to complete this best-selling trilogy. She has a publication date of May 2017 for her new novel The Woman in the Shadows, which is set in the early Tudor period. She has signed a contract for another trilogy, The Rose Trilogy about three medieval queens. Carol is published by Accent Press and her forthcoming historical novel The Woman in the Shadows will be their lead novel to be published in May 2017.
Carol is the co-ordinator of the Historical Novels Association Conference Oxford September 2016.
Website www.carolcmcgrath.co.uk
ALISON MORTON
Even before she pulled on her first set of combats, it never occurred to Alison Morton that women couldn’t serve their country in the armed forces. After six years in a Territorial Army special communications regiment she left as a captain, having done all sorts of interesting things she can’t talk about, even now…
But something else fuels her writing… Fascinated by mosaics at Ampurias (Spain) created by the complex, powerful Roman civilisation, she wondered what a Roman society would be like if run by strong women. What if a tiny part of the Roman Empire had survived into the modern era? And what part could it have played in world history on its way?
Years later, after Alison made a detour to bag an MA in history, the Roma Nova alternate history thrillers with tough heroines are the result. The first three, Inceptio, Perfiditas and Successio are set in the 21st century; Aurelia goes back to the 1960s and Insurrectio (published April 2016) to the early 1980s. Awarded the coveted Indie BRAG Medallion, the first four books have now been acquired by Audible. Aurelia is currently shortlisted for the 2016 Historical Novel Society Indie Award.
Alison is represented by Blake Friedman Literary Agency for overseas and ancillary rights. She now lives in France with her husband and writes, tends her Roman herb garden and drinks wine.
Website www.alison-morton.com
ELIZA REDGOLD
Eliza Redgold is an author, academic and unashamed romantic. She writes historical fiction (St Martin’s Press) and romance (Harlequin).
Naked: A Novel of Lady Godiva was released internationally by St Martin’s Press New York in July 2015. Her ‘Romance your Senses’ series of contemporary romances are published by Harlequin (MIRA) Australia and Escape Publishing. They include Black Diamonds, Hide and Seek and Wild Flower (2015 release). Eliza is also contracted to Harlequin Historical (London) for two upcoming Victorian historical romances.
‘Eliza Redgold’ is based upon the old, Gaelic meaning of her name, Dr Elizabeth Reid Boyd. English folklore has it that if you help a fairy, you will be rewarded with red gold. She has presented academic papers on women and romance and is a contributor to the forthcoming Encyclopaedia of Romance Fiction. As a non-fiction author she is co-author of Body Talk: a Power Guide for Girls and Stay-at-Home Mothers: Dialogues and Debates. She was born in Irvine, Scotland on Marymass Day and currently lives in Australia.
Website www.elizaredgold.com
ANNIE WHITEHEAD
Annie is a history graduate and prize-winning author. Her main interest in history is the rich seam of stories to be found in what is known as the ‘Dark Ages’ and she strives to bring these people into the spotlight to portray them more as medieval characters than mythical folk who dwell among dragons and elves.
Her first novel, To Be A Queen, is the story of Aethelflaed, daughter of Alfred the Great, who came to be known as the Lady of the Mercians. It was long-listed for the Historical Novel Society’s Indie Award 2016, and it has been awarded an IndieBRAG. Medallion.
Her second book, Alvar the Kingmaker, tells the story of Aelfhere of Mercia, a nobleman in the time of King Edgar, who sacrifices personal happiness in order to keep the monarchy strong when successive kings die at a young age. She has completed a third novel, also set in Mercia, and scheduled for publication in 2017.
Annie has twice been a prizewinner in the Mail on Sunday Novel Writing competition, she won first prize for non-fiction in the new Writing Magazine Poetry and Prose competition, and she has had articles published in various magazines, on a wide range of topics.
She is also an editor for the EHFA (English Historical fictions Authors) blog. She lives in the English Lake District with her husband, and has three grown-up ‘children’.
Website www.anniewhiteheadauthor.co.uk
C.C. HUMPHREYS
Chris (C.C.) Humphreys was born in Toronto and grew up in the UK. All four grandparents were actors and since his father was an actor as well, it was inevitable he would follow the bloodline. He has acted all over the world and appeared on stages ranging from London’s West End to Hollywood’s Twentieth Century Fox.
Chris has written eight historical novels. The first, The French Executioner told the tale of the man who killed Anne Boleyn, was runner-up for the CWA Steel Dagger for Thrillers 2002. Its sequel was Blood Ties. He has three books on the ‘007 of the 1770’s’ – Jack Absolute. The Blooding of Jack Absolute and Absolute Honour were shortlisted for the 2007 Evergreen Prize and are being re-released in the US by Sourcebooks. His novel about the real Dracula, Vlad, The Last Confession was a bestseller in Canada. All his books are published in the UK, Canada, the US and many have been translated in various languages.
His novel Shakespeare’s Rebel, is set in 1599 when London was on the brink of revolution, and Chris returned to London, 1665 for Plague, with the 1666 sequel, Fire, both being tales of religious fundamentalist serial killers during the wild events of the Great Fire. Chris has also written a trilogy for young adults The Runestone Saga, a heady brew of Norse myth, runic magic, time travel and horror.
He lives on Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada, with his wife and young son
www.cchumphreys.com
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