I approached Unbound because I knew there had to be a middle way between mainstream publishers and self-publishing. The minute I heard Unbound mentioned on an episode of BBC Radio 4’s Books and Authors, I knew they were it. My experience of being with them has been wonderful. Before I approached them my book had done the rounds of eight mainstream publishers. All had taken months over considering it, giving indications they were interested early on and then prevaricating, before finally passing. Unbound picked my book up within three weeks of submission, and said they’d be ‘thrilled’ to publish it. What’s not to love! Although crowdfunding is a challenge, there is a wonderful community of authors. We all talk to each other in a private Facebook group, and there is great solidarity and support. If I had self-published I would have had to find my own editor and designer. Going with Unbound, they found those for me and they were top notch. As a result, what I believed to be a commercially viable and fairly well written book has been lifted considerably and is exactly what I always wanted it to be. (It might sound grandiose to say that about my own book but you have to back yourself, and also if you’re a writer on the point of publication you should have an objective sense about whether a piece of writing is good or not, no matter if it’s your own or someone else’s). I also like being with Unbound because I love being with a publisher which is a disruptor in the industry and which is breaking new ground. They’re a clever, innovative lot, and I feel as if I’m involved in something pioneering.

Apple Island Wife – Slow Living in Tasmania is a travel memoir. Ever dreamt of leaving city life behind and living in the country? The Stockers moved to Tasmania, a place of untrammelled beauty and family homes of uncertain build quality. This book follows their adventures on five acres.

I’ve got a worst gift. Churlish thought it might sound, as a writer I really hate being given those books on how to write. I spent a lot of my twenties reading brilliant works of fiction by the best writers, absorbing and loving them. That’s how I learned how to write! Don’t give me a book suggesting I still need to brush up on things!

Best gift: nothing sprang to mind, except that when I was in sixth form at school, I won the art prize one year. For that prize I was able to choose a book. This was in the eighties and the groundbreaking adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited had been on television, so I asked for that. It was the first grown up book I’d ever read (after my mother’s collection of Jackie Collins. Talk about trading up) and it took my love of reading a step further. I was also given a beautiful pen set, ballpoint and fountain pen, as part of the prize. A great gift for a writer. If you know a writer and want to buy them something encouraging, thoughtful, I would recommend any small and beautiful thing for their desk – ideally good quality, a keeper.

I love Chris Stewart’s Driving Over Lemons series, and it’s the perfect gift set – uplifting, feel-good and sunny, and it looks wonderful with its images of Andalucia on the cover. I once gave it to my uncle who was in hospital unexpectedly, and he knew immediately it was exactly what he needed to cheer him up.

I’d love to be gifted a yoga retreat on a Mediterranean island!

A friend in my writers’ group gave me use of her holiday home on the north coast of Tasmania, when I was finalising my manuscript. It was perfect. The only distraction was the beach, where I walked every day. The rest of the time I spent in pyjamas and track pants, writing, watching TV, writing, eating, writing, cooking, writing – you get the picture. I finished my manuscript in a week. Job done.

Besides being author of Apple Island Wife, I write occasional freelance articles about Tasmania’s food, wine and lifestyle. I work part-time for the Tamar Valley Wine Route – the Tamar, the valley in which I live, is one of the world’s premiere cool climate wine regions. I’m joint owner with my husband of Langdale Farm, a tiny farm and food business raising rare-breed Wessex Saddleback pigs for a range of gourmet pork products. We live on five acres – myself and my husband, our two children, Alice the mad collie and around forty-five pigs. You can read more on my blog Apple Island Wife.

For a while now I’ve been reconstructing photographs of other authors and actors, and photographing myself as them. Dalton Trumbo in the bath, Roald Dahl in bed, Martin Amis on a rooftop in Paris – that sort of thing. They’re on my Instagram account and my website.

Unbound was a fascinating, no-holds-barred thrill ride. There's no preparing you for how tough the crowdfunding phase is (buy a crash helmet), but once you're through the gates, everything's really exciting. The cover designer and the editorial team are FANTASTIC and do everything in their power to make your book the best it can possibly be, and that's hugely rewarding. Of course, the book being published is just the start of the journey...

My thriller Vicious Rumer was published in May (it has a hot pink cover, you can't miss it!). Now I'm working on a gay supernatural thriller that I'm both really excited about and terrified I'll never figure out how to do justice to. Generally, I'd say I'm a thriller/fantasy writer, but you could call me 'horror', too, if you'd like.

Editors who really care about helping you do your best. Working as a film journalist, I'm surrounded by incredibly talented writers every day, and I am constantly inspired by them. They make me want to be better.

Also, notebooks! They're a writer's best friend, especially the little ones you can take with you anywhere. I get through notebooks like crazy, and they're always crammed with barely legible plot ideas/character profiles that I refer back to when I'm writing something new.

Anything by Robin Jarvis, though chiefly his Whitby Witches books. They're atmospheric, crazy inventive and perfectly blend character with rich language and fun historical twists.

If somebody wants to take me on a cruise, I'd be more than happy to oblige.

I love cats an embarrassing amount. I also live for stories, whether that's reading something completely gripping, or attempting to write something that will grip other people. Stories are definitely gifts (the best kind!), that's why people become obsessed with books, movies and TV shows. Heck, even the news tells a story. Stories are so important because they both transport us away from our own reality while also telling us something important about ourselves. I couldn't live without them.

I recently ran a Halloween book blog series, featuring guest posts from authors like CJ Tudor and Paul Tremblay. Check it out here.

I think Unbound fills a crucial niche in publishing today. It's becoming harder and harder for anybody who's not a celebrity already, or who doesn't come with a particular pedigree, to make it in fiction. Even if you do get an agent the traditional way, there's no guarantee you'll get a book deal, your publisher might want to turn your book into something you don't want it to be. Unbound combines really sharp insights about the business of publishing with the freedom to take risks and cultivate new authors. Their crowdfunding function helps insulate against the risk that makes other houses say, "Beautiful writing, great concept, but not for us." I've discovered so many other fantastic authors through Unbound and I'm proud to be part of something new and exciting in the book world.

A vulnerable young woman vanishes just before Christmas from the West London neighborhood where she’s lived her entire life, and when her ambitious but self-destructive girlfriend is left to figure out what happened – and why – she realises just how unprepared she is for matters of love, life, and London.

Last Christmas, about a month and a half before my book launch, my husband gave me a lovely pen because he didn’t want me using just any biro to sign my debut. Then I went and misplaced it on the night of the launch.

Cookbooks! They pass the usefulness test, there’s loads of different options, and so many of them are gorgeously designed. It's so hard to narrow it down, but here are a few of my favourites: Eat London, by Peter Prescott and Sir Terence Conran, is a combination of cookbook, guidebook, and all-around good read. For New York, City Harvest: 100 Recipes from Great New York City Restaurants by Florence Fabricant is beautifully photographed, and in the season of giving, you can feel good about the fact that proceeds benefit City Harvest, an organisation that collects surplus food from restaurants, supermarkets, and manufacturers and donates it to food banks and soup kitchens. And for pure utility, I'm a devotee of The Rye Baker by Stanley Ginsberg. I've made so many different rye breads from this book for my family and friends that they all ought to have their own copies by now! Rye is an amazing grain, versatile and flavourful and never really getting its due, and this is the best book to explain all the ways you can make it shine. When I was crowdfunding my book through Unbound, I had a reward level where I would bake bread for pledgers - it's a fantastic gift for someone who has enough knickknacks and doodads to last a lifetime.

Oooh, hmm...do restaurants count? I was given a gift certificate to a new restaurant called Manahatta, which is on the 60th floor of a building in Lower Manhattan. We were glued to the windows in between courses. What I'd love to try someday is one of those circus schools where they teach you how to do the flying trapeze in a flash. I'm clumsy and horribly inflexible and I pity the instructor who has to grab my sweaty hands, but I love to perform, and it's really one of those things that feel superhuman.

My day job is being a transportation policy advisor in the New York City government, specialising in making it safer to walk and cycle. When I’m not trying to shape cities, I’m writing novels set in them. The Hope and Anchor is my love letter to a bit of London I hold very dear, and an exploration of what the city means to its natives and its newcomers alike. Writing about it after I left kept its memory very alive in my mind and I hope readers can grow to love this little corner of the metropolis along the Grand Union Canal just as much as I did. What made me a writer was that silent observation of city life taking place around me, and trying to get into people's heads, or even just imagine where they're going and what they're thinking as we're trapped together on the Tube for a few minutes.

Whether on foot or on wheels, I’m exploring cities. I love learning about the bits of history that are hidden in plain sight. London and New York are both home for me, yet I’m still discovering so many things I didn’t know about both of them. In addition to writing and working at my day job, I volunteer as a wild bird rehabilitator at a rescue centre in Manhattan, and I have a pet parrot who I love to bits. Yes, he talks – “Drop it like it’s hot” is a favourite phrase of his. My friends have figured out that if a gift is bird-related in any way, chances are I’ll adore it.

I’ve loved Unbound since I discovered the first of their books that I pledged for, Letters of Note. Unbound has brilliant, eclectic taste - their site is like a book-lover’s Aladdin’s Cave - and they take a chance on things that traditional publishers wouldn’t. They’re one of my favorite publishers - I find I want to read most of the books they publish!

Purple People is a jolly dystopia (think a slightly merrier take on Black Mirror), concerning an outlandish government scheme to control crime and anti-social behavior - by dyeing offenders purple - and the news-loving lass who investigates how it’s happening.

My Grandad was always really encouraging of my writing (he was encouraging about everything really; an excellent and kind human). For example, when I first started trying to write a script, he bought me a scriptwriting guide. And at some point before that he bought me a thesaurus. It’s still the one I use.

My favorite is probably Letters of Note by Shaun Usher. He set up a website some years ago publishing incredible, and of course, notable letters - such as David Bowie’s reply to his first American fan letter, a letter from Jourdon Anderson, once a slave, to his former master, and so many more. It’s a remarkable book, and enough to make anyone feel better about humanity (handy, right now!). I’ve given that to lots of people, and always recommended it when I was working in a bookshop. Other books I’ve given more than once include the brilliant and hilarious Love, Nina (Nina Stibbe was a nanny in early ‘80s London, and these are her letters her to her sister), Dietland by Sarai Walker (a warm and witty feminist satire), Armistead Maupin’s engrossing Tales of the City books, and finally, Jonathan Trigell’s writing is breathtaking; his novels are eclectically varied, he writes such well-drawn, believable characters, and has a sublime turn of phrase (one day I hope to conjure up a sentence as good as one of his!). My favorite of his books is Cham, but I’ve bought Boy A for friends, too.

My Mom once bought me a place on a course run by The School of Life, taking seaside photos with acclaimed photographer Martin Parr. It was a brilliant weekend, but also the hotel we stayed at blew my mind - it’s a timewarp, in the best possible way: a big Victorian house in a small town on the Isle of Wight, where the sea is at the end of the hotel garden. It’s amazing. I’ve since become a regular visitor at the hotel - it’s my favorite place to escape to once a year to write. The experience I’d most like to be given is more time there!

I spent many years working in film, mainly in casting, on films that included a bunch of romantic comedies, Robert De Niro’s The Good Shepherd, Paul Greengrass’ United 93, Elizabeth, and the Spice Girls Movie! I took a break from that to spend more time writing, and amongst other things, am currently working on a couple of sitcom scripts. I love photography books, vintage dresses, and do enjoy a bit of arts ‘n’ crafts - I make my own Christmas cards each year and they’re quite the production.

I approached Unbound after exhausting the list of potentially suitable publishers, who had all said ‘not for us’ or ‘too much military history’ or ‘not enough military history’. I realised that my book was a bit genre-fluid and thought I would ask a publisher who had more imagination and less risk-adversity. Unbound liked my book but warned me about the challenges of crowdfunding. They were right about that but the upsides included access to professional editing, professional cover design and the wonderful Unbound Social Club, fount of all wisdom and support. I have learned a lot about publishing and book marketing along the way and met some fantastic authors.

Retracing her father’s heroic escape across China in the Second World War leads his daughter on a gripping voyage of discovery about him, China and, inevitably, herself.

A journal to write down all the surface flotsam, so that my brain can focus on the interesting stuff.

The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan – it revolutionised my understanding of world history and everyone should read it.

I would love to go on a writers’ retreat – by which I mean a digital-free cottage somewhere nice.

I practise as an Osteopath in the picturesque Wiltshire town of Bradford on Avon, treating people three days a week and horses and dogs one day a week. Formerly I was a marketing consultant and began my marketing career with Cadbury’s Confectionery. I was told to eat as much chocolate as I liked (from the fridge in the office or directly from the factory) and that this would cure my addiction. Cunning eh? Of course it made it worse.

Stranger In My Heart is my first book. I have had various articles published in the osteopathic press and had an article titled "Hearts & Minds: The Mystery of Consciousness" published on a philosophy blog in November 2017.

I was born and raised at a farm on the edge of the Shropshire Hills, the youngest of four children. I spent much of my childhood on horseback and my close association with horses left me with permanent damage to my right eye, a broken nose, broken knee-cap and broken coccyx. I’ve been bitten, kicked, rolled on, dragged, and have fallen off too many times to recall, but still ride racehorses for fun.

My experience with Unbound has been very good indeed. I first heard about them through my friend Stuart Ashen, who has published 2 books through them (Terrible Old Games You’ve Probably Never Heard Of, and Attack of the Flickering Skeletons). I actually ended up having Deep Down There picked up through their Twitter campaign #pitchunbound, where they encouraged Twitter users to send them their best ideas in a tweet. I actually pitched a fair few, but Deep Down There was the one that stood out… (original tweet here).

A strange hole appears in a small community, and the residents slowly go mad… in a way.

A pledge to my book. Especially the one my wife gave me last year that made up a chunk of my current percentage.

It depends on the recipient. If they are a horror person I always lean toward Lovecraft, though.

My wife and I have been given experience days, and invariably never use them. The last one came on our wedding anniversary where we were going to a posh steak restaurant, and instead had a nap. The pub round the corner was equal to our tastes.

The Experience Gift I’d most like to be given… Chiropractor. Or steak again. I might actually go this time.

Me? Well I’m just the best bearded author you’ve never heard of. I’ve been releasing my works independently since 2012, with titles ranging from Comedy (Kirk Sandblaster) to Horror (Little Thwopping). When I’m not conjuring all sorts of nightmares and japes, I’m mostly living with my wife and pooch, and enjoying getting old.

Unbound seems a logical place for me to approach. I knew a handful of people who had released books through them on Twitter, and as one of those oddballs from that corner of the internet myself, it seemed a good fit. The other massive advantage is that I was given total creative freedom, so I could lay the book out myself and leave Mike [The Monster Café’s illustrator, Mihály Orodán] to deal with making the thing look beautiful.

The Monster Café is my debut children's picture book. A humorous tale that deals with pre-conceptions, pre-school excitement and pre-tty big monsters.

I very often get new stationery, and let me tell you... I like getting new stationery.

For children, anything by Jon Klassen. For everyone else, anything by Haruki Murakami. In a strange way, even though their audiences are completely different, Klassen and Murakami are able to achieve the same result. They totally suck you in to the worlds they create and let you escape for a bit. And even though both can be very dark, the humour that shines through in both of their works makes even peril seem wonderful.

My wife got my ukulele lessons after years of going on about never learning an instrument being my biggest regret. I can only play one song, but boy do I enjoy playing it.

I'm a graphic designer (well, creative artworker, but people don't tend to know what this is) for a content marketing agency called Velocity, based in London.

I write jokes on Twitter, to mild acclaim, as @thepunningman. I was featured in Playboy’s 50 Funniest People on Twitter, and have appeared on Buzzfeed, Comedy Central, The Poke, Huffington Post, Funny or Die and TimeOut, among others. Because of this I was been coaxed into doing standup a few times, which was as exhilarating as it was horrific.

I'm an avid music fan, despite not playing a note, but I djed at indie night 'New Slang' in Kingston for 7 years. My other loves are football, skateboarding, design and excruciatingly branded craft beers. I live outside the gates of Hampton Court Palace with my wife and two children.

I was blown away when Unbound accepted my novel for publication - after writing so many books and after years of learning the craft, someone had faith in me and my ideas! Then the hard work began as I drew together a team of supporters who were willing to buy the book in advance in return for having their name printed in the book. After bringing together an awesome group of people (and making some great new friends!) the editing began and, months later, my book came out exactly 20 years after I first started writing. A major success!

My current book, Darwin’s Soldiers, is a science fiction novel which follows the greatest warriors throughout history as they fight to survive in a world where evolution is sped up.

Other than an hour of peace to write… books are always the best gift for writing. Whether it’s books about creative writing, inspirational novels or notebooks to fill, a book is a writer’s best friend.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. One of the greatest living authors who manages to create breathing characters in a just few words. Cloud Atlas is one of his best and has an amazing scope of locations and characters scattered across swathes of time periods. A great introduction to the possibilities of science fiction.

This year I celebrated my birthday at the Eden Project in Cornwall where, after watching Jack Johnson play in front of the immense, lit-up tropical domes, I flew on the Skywire - the longest zip-line in the UK. It was the closest thing to actually flying!

I work for the biggest publisher in the world but very rarely get to work with actual books, so when they land on my desk it's often a big treat! I also collect old penguin books (from 1935 onwards) so my house is full of old books and anything from the penguin brand... mugs, tea towels and umbrellas!

My two sons are at primary school and inspire me daily. Through them I've re-learnt that every day is an adventure and life is about experiences and creating memories.

What I love about Unbound is that it empowers writers and readers. Instead of some nameless accountant making decisions about which books get published, it's the readers who decide by 'voting with their money'. They pay up-front for the books they take a fancy to, which funds their publication. It means that Unbound can publish great books that more risk-averse traditional publishers won't take a punt on.

A Murder to Die For is a comedy novel about a murder-mystery that takes place at a murder-mystery convention where everyone – victim, witnesses and probably the murderer – are all dressed as their favourite fictional detective. Agatha Christie meets Tom Sharpe!

A kindle. I love real books (and have over 1,500) but an e-reader is invaluable for travel.

Last Chance To See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine. Thought-provoking, at times hilarious, at times tragically sad. Utterly wonderful writing.

Not had one yet!

My name is Stevyn Colgan and I've had a pretty weird career path from Cornish schoolboy to attempted chef. Then thirty years as a London police officer (with some time spent as a movie monster maker and comics publisher). Then I became an 'elf' researching and writing the TV show QI and its Radio 4 cousin, The Museum of Curiosity. But now I'm a full-time writer, I have eight books in print, I'm very happy with my life, and I'm poorer than I've ever been before. My hobbies include painting, playing various instruments (and the occasional live gig), reading and cooking. I live on the Buckinghamshire/Oxfordshire border where they film the Midsomer Murders TV series and spend most of my day looking nervously out of the window.

The beauty of Unbound is that they have the luxury of being able to take books that might not fit into either a mainstream genre or traditional publishing’s mission to put ’The Girl’ into every title imaginable. I had only tried 4 agents before I saw the tweet by a fellow Unbounder, Jennie Ensor, who told me that Scott Pack was taking Twitter pitches.

It was quick and painless to get signed. Crowdfunding is a very different story. An extraordinary journey of endurance and joy. I would only recommend it for writers who have dreamed of being published in vitro and won’t let anything stand in their way. Not for everyone but it was definitely for me.

Bitter Leaves is an exploration of the dark heart of Singapore’s maid culture with a supernatural blast.

Montblanc fountain pen. I love writing in ink.

Anything by Jean Rhys or Lesley Glaister. Especially to my more dark and twisty friends who live with the Black Dog. Shows that you can be successful & creative despite mental health issues.

A tank driving day for my 40th birthday. It was much too short and I loved it. I could have driven them all day.

I’m a writer, poet, book cover artist and indie publisher living in Edinburgh, Scotland with my husband, two children and a depressed Beagle, called The Beagle. When I’m not writing, reading Grimdark or designing I enjoy watching dark, blood-splattered dramas like the Walking Dead, Ray Donavon and Sons of Anarchy. I am absolutely ready for a zombie apocalypse.

They were actually the first people I approached. Having already had five books published and failed to make my fortune I was shamelessly attracted by their 50% royalty share. And I thought the crowdfunding bit would be easy. How wrong can you be? But seriously, doing it that way - engaging with readers and potential readers as you write - has been fascinating and eye-opening and a real learning opportunity. I had no idea, for example, that the men in the picture on my Unbound page digging up bodies on the Western Front included two - TWO - V.C winners! But someone else did and another fascinating piece of the jigsaw puzzle of historical fiction fell into place.

The Glorious Dead is the story of what happened after the Armistice, when the guns fell silent in November 1918, how the aftermath of World War One affected the survivors and how the iconic war cemeteries became the undisputed symbol of remembrance.

Time. The time to write. If anyone ever says, 'I'll do that' and lets me get on, it's wonderful.

Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee. It's a book everyone should read: poetic, nostalgic and in its own way, heroic.

Experience I'd most like to give? An all-day, all-expenses-paid pamper and relaxation day for my wife, who works so hard and so deserves it. Receive? I'd quite like to go with her!

When I was twelve I had a model railway - scenery, houses, landscape, the lot. In fact, it was a miniature model world; my pride and joy. I wrote a letter to 'The Railway Modeller' - a UK magazine - asking if they'd like an article about it. They said 'go ahead' and so I sat down at the dining room table and began writing. I got paid £12, and I've been writing ever since! Flushed with the success of being commissioned by 'Railway Modeller' I did what all teenagers do and started writing long and complicated poetry. I actually had a couple of things published in small arts magazines, and went to Hull University just to breathe the same air as Philip Larkin. When he stopped breathing (he died in my third year - which had nothing to do with me, I hasten to add!) I started doing bits and pieces of journalism, and contributed to a column called 'This World of Ours' on the Yorkshire Post for a few years. In fact, when I graduated I was going to be a journalist. But then I'd also quite fancied teaching, and someone said I'd better do a PGCE before Mrs Thatcher closed down all the teacher-training colleges. Twenty-one years later, I was still in the classroom. Then one day was asked to write a couple of school text-books UK publisher Hodder Wayland as part of a series covering countries of the world. It was an opportunity too good to miss. So I gave up the day job for the non-job of writing and have been doing it ever since.

Initially, I began writing Paper Tigers, not so much with a view to being published, but more from a cathartic desire to process my experiences, both harrowing and hilarious, living in Japan studying kendo (traditional Japanese sword fighting) whilst working in a paper factory.

I quickly discovered that writing a book is still a long way from being an actual writer. At first glance, it seemed as though the world of publishing was entirely ruled by cookbooks and celebrity biographies. I sent a few submissions off to publishers and got predictably curt automated 'Thanks but sod-off', replies. I was so out of my depth of where to start, it was laughable. A friend suggested Unbound following a random lunchtime meeting with one of their editors. I pitched my synopsis to them, they signed me up. Simple, or so I thought...

I was delighted to join Unbound, but crowdfunding is not for the faint hearted. You need a backbone of steel and a relentless approach to self-promotion and social media. Most crowd funded writers become extremely good at generating interest through blogs, articles, media exposure, book readings, rinsing their address books, haranguing work colleagues, distant aunts, local press, literally anything and anyone that might bump the crowdfunding total up.

Paper Tigers: Martial Arts & Misadventure in Japan, is a memoir of an ill-judged attempt to become the real Karate Kid whilst working in a traditional Japanese paper factory during the nineties. It’s a hilarious and heartwarming tale of friendship, following your dreams and how, when things don’t go quite as planned, there’s a better story to be told.

Without a doubt belief and enthusiasm from friends and family. Never ever underestimate the effects simple encouragement can have on a writer. I suspect this also applies to children, artists, musicians etc, actually, pretty much any situation where people are just starting out. I wouldn’t have even finished my book if it weren’t for a precious few telling me this was something worth pursuing and taking the time to check out early drafts.

I’m a chronic armchair outdoorsman, and enjoy tales about nature and exploration, probably because I grew up in Devon [in the UK], close to Dartmoor and enjoy getting out there and communing with nature. I’m fairly evangelical about anything by Robert Macfarlane or Joe Simpson.

I love camping and bushcraft, so anything adventurous would be great. Jungles, mountains, deserts, I’d really like to see it all.

I spent several years working and studying in China and Japan. Currently I live in the South of England with my Wife and three kids, and continue to write and train in martial arts. Instead of teaching self-defence to intelligence agencies and Special Forces, I work in a school.

I adore Unbound and am very proud to be an Unbound author. I first came across the company in 2014 when my husband Chris, brought me Letters of Note as I'd been following them on Twitter. The book itself was very beautifully put together and it was only when I read the back that I realised it had been crowdfunded. A few weeks later, a friend showed me his pledger's copy of The Wake and I then saw Paul Kingsnorth talk about it as Mark Rylance read from it, and I was intrigued by how Unbound had managed to put two such different but brilliant books together. I was beginning to send Echo Hall out to submission by that point, but I was drawn to the Unbound website. Although a bit daunted by the fundraising challenge, I knew if I could get through it, I'd have a fine editor and Unbound would put a great book together for me. Fundraising was hard, but one of the many things I love about Unbound is that they really look out for their authors. I think Unbound offer a really unique and valuable platform for debut authors enabling them to publish their work and start to build an audience. I think their tagline should be 'home of the debut author'!

Echo Hall is a novel about three generations of women who experience love, loss and conflict during times of war. It asks if such conflict is inevitable or can we find another way?

Last Christmas my lovely daughter Beth made me two mugs with the front cover of Echo Hall on them. Gorgeous present and such a great surprise.

This is hard as I have loads of books I love to give. So I’m going to go with book I’ll be giving everyone this Christmas. Agrippina: The Most Extraordinary Woman of the Roman World by my fellow Unbounder, Dr Emma Southon. It’s a brilliantly funny and fierce feminist history of Agrippina, granddaughter of Augustus, daughter of Germanicus, niece of Tiberius, sister of Caligula, wife of Claudius, mother of Nero and founder of Cologne. It’s wonderful, please buy it!

Well I really want to learn how to use the telescope my husband Chris bought me one Christmas, so I’m hoping my daughter Claire (who is studying Astrophysics) will teach me.

I am a 53 year old writer who lives in Oxford. I always wanted to write from an early age, but life and work kept getting in the way. It wasn’t till I took a career break when I was 39 that I began to take it seriously. Since then I’ve done a Diploma in Creative Writing, and had four books published: a flash fiction collection, a novel, an essay collection I edited and a Lent course. I’d love to write full time, but alas, don’t make enough money for that, so work as a procurement and contracts manager for a group of schools, while scribbling away in my spare time. I am married to a peace activist, Chris Cole, who runs a small NGO researching and campaigning against British drones. When I first started writing properly, my children were aged between 1 and 5, they are now aged 15-19 and so my writing life is a lot easier these days.