About the Group

Committee

Angus Konstam (Chair) is an acclaimed historian, with over sixty books in print. He is also one of the world’s leading authorities on piracy. A former naval officer and underwater archaeologist, he then spent ten years as a Museum curator, working on both sides of the Atlantic. He is now a full-time writer, living in Edinburgh. His most recent books include Blackbeard, Sovereigns of the Sea, Piracy: The Complete History, and There was a Soldier, which is due out this summer. (www.anguskonstam.com)

Caroline Dunford (Hon Secretary) is a short story writer, journalist, psychotherapist, mother of two young sons and accordingly author of How to Survive the Terrible Twos: diary of a mother under siege, playwright, and experienced workshop host. Her  first crime novel is published this winter. She loves writing, regarding it as a both a financial and sanity inducing essential. You can follow on her twitter as verdandiweaves - she's a bit of a geek when it comes to tech. Her professional blog, when she finds time to update it, is at www.writeforward.blogspot.com

John Ward (Treasurer) was born in Clydebank, raised in Perth, schooled in Dundee, and studied Philosophy and Literature at Edinburgh before going on to teach English at the Royal High School. He worked at Inverness College before becoming a full-time writer in 1999 and he now specialises in young adult fantasy/adventure stories. Married with 4 grown children. Published work: The Secret of the Alchemist (2003), The Stone of Sorrow (2004), City of Desolation (2005) and The Comet's Child (August 2009).

Naomi Tarrant (Event Manager) is a former curator of clothing and textiles and has written several books and many articles on those topics. She now spends her time holidaying, visiting friends and family, going to conferences, family history research, being reviews editor for a journal, being on the editorial board of another journal, and in her spare time writing on anything from clothes and embroidered samplers to bookmarkers.

Lin Anderson (Buddy system co-ordinator) is a graduate of Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities and was recently awarded an MA Screenwriting with Distinction from the Screen Academy Scotland. Her short film River Child won a student BAFTA and the Celtic Film Festival best fiction award. She has published five novels in her crime series featuring Glasgow based forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod which have been translated into a number of languages. (www.lin-anderson.com)

Maggie Craig - biography to follow.

Eric Swanepoel is a former veterinarian and bat scientist. He was born in Edinburgh where he again lives, having spent 37 of his 44 years in Southern Africa, France and elsewhere in the UK, from Margate to Aberdeen. Apart from writing he now works as a part-time researcher in the Scottish Parliament.  He says, ‘I love helping people tell their stories but intend getting back to writing novels at some point.’  His hobby is playing the fiddle (badly). (www.BioWrite.co.uk)

Sheila Templeton - boigraphy to follow.