Judges

Mark Stay Screenwriter (Robot Overlords with Ben Kingsley & new horror movie coming from Warner Brothers soon), author of Crow Folk with Simon & Schuster and indie author of The End of Magic & co-author of Back to Reality). Co-host of The Bestseller Experiment. 25 years in publishing industry. Find out more here.

Mark Desvaux co-authored bestselling fiction (Back to Reality), is a bestselling musical artist (Urban Myth Club) and has built up the organisation Foodshare, which teaches children to “Grow to Give”, producing home grown vegetables in schools. An entrepreneur and teacher, he is also co-host of the Bestseller Experiment. Find out more here.

W.J. Kite grew up in Teesside and now lives in Western Australia. Organiser of the Writing Tournament and writing a series of Border Reiver inspired books. Scottish Warlock, a short, and Redcap & Reiver will be out this year, followed by Book One of The Border Reiver Chronicles. In 2020 he won a statewide award for his short story, Robert the Bruce. This story is not about Robert the Bruce.

J.M. Carr is a charismatic UK based author. She is soon to release books 2 & 3 of the Wonder Girls series for younger children and has released the young adult book Spare. She has written and narrated several stories for BBC Radio, including a Dr. Who Christmas special in 2020. Find out more here.

Mark Hood is the author of Jacob’s War, a prequel to the Fae Defence Society series. Book One (The Fairies Want Me Dead) is coming soon. He has had two short stories based on fairy tales published in anthologies, “Skin Deep” (based upon Snow White) and “West of the Moon” (based upon Beauty and the Beast). Currently working on a sequel to H.G. Wells’s War of the Worlds.
Website and Writing Blog

Lynne Clark lives in London, England. She is currently writing a young adult fantasy about magic and angry women. It is called The Honeyed Scent of Iron, and is due out the moment it is finished. Find out more here.

Adam Jarvis is a Canadian author who writes fantasy for all ages. His upcoming book, Ribbon Road, is a fantastical adventure about Barbara, a sassy twelve year old who is thrown into the multiverse with only her hair ribbons and a bag of baby carrots to defend herself. To find out about Ribbon Road and his other work, head to his website

Tara Marakat is a physician and former biotech executive turned professional writer.  Drawing on her unique background, she specializes in medical thrillers.  Her own reading interests are eclectic, and she has a particular fondness for young adult literature of all genres, particularly if it involves elves.