Dame Jilly Cooper, OBE (born February 21, 1937) was an English author. She started her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several romance novels, the first of which appeared in 1975. She was most famous for writing the six blockbuster novels the Rutshire Chronicles.
Rachel Crowther qualified as a doctor and worked in the NHS for twenty years before succumbing to a lifelong yearning to write fiction, previously indulged during successive bouts of maternity leave. She has an MA in Creative Writing with distinction from Oxford Brookes, and a string of prizes for her short fiction.
Her first novel, THE PARTRIDGE AND THE PELICAN, was published in 2011 and was a Tatler ‘sizzling summer read’. THE THINGS YOU DO FOR LOVE is published in August 2016 and has been called 'a delight of a read' by Fay Weldon, 'the very best sort of fiction' by Juliet Nicolson (A House Full of Daughters) and 'a richly textured tale of life and love' by Richard Mason (The Drowning People).
Annette Sills was born in Wigan, Lancashire to parents from County Mayo, Ireland. Her short stories have been longlisted and shortlisted in a number of competitions including the Fish Short Story Prize, the Telegraph Short Story Club, Books Ireland Magazine and the emigration anthology Something about Home. Her first novel, The Relative Harmony of Julie O'Hagan was shortlisted in Rethink Press New Novels Competition 2014. Her second, My Mother's Children, was published by Poolbeg Press in March 2021. Annette currently lives in Manchester with her husband and two children. Follow me on:
Charlotte French is a contemporary fiction author who turned a lifelong dream into reality after decades of creative entrepreneurship—aka procrastination—such as award-winning teddy bear artisan and boutique/gallery owner. In her mid-fifties, Charlotte finally faced her deepest fear to pursue her passion for writing.
After completing courses with Sydney's Writer's Studio and winning her first short story competition, this self-described control freak enthusiast decided to take the indie publishing route and published her debut novel Agnes Treading Water in 2023. Her second standalone novel The Secret Life of Jasper Scragg releases on September 1, 2025. Charlotte is writing her next novel which has thriller undertones.
