James Robertson is the author of seven novels: The Fanatic, Joseph Knight, The Testament of Gideon Mack, And the Land Lay Still, The Professor of Truth, To Be Continued and, most recently, News of the Dead. Joseph Knight won the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year and the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year, The Testament of Gideon Mack was longlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize, and And the Land Lay Still won the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year. Robertson is also the author of four short story collections, most recently 365: Stories, five poetry collections and numerous children’s books written in English and Scots. He runs the independent publishing house Kettillonia, and he is a co-founder and general editor of the Scots language imprint Itchy Coo, which produces books in Scots for children and young adults.

Flora Johnstone is a writer who has spent many years researching and telling Scotland’s stories in exhibitions, books and digital media, and is delighted now to be doing this through fiction. Her debut novel What You Call Free was published by Ringwood Publishing in March 2021. Set in lowland Scotland in 1687-8, it tells the story of two real women and their struggle for freedom in a harsh and divided society.Flora’s love of Scottish History began when studying the subject at St Andrews University, and has included working at the National Museum of Scotland and a career in heritage interpretation. Her non-fiction publications include War Classics: the remarkable memoir of Scottish scholar Christina Keith on the Western Front (The History Press) and Faith in a Crisis (Islands Book Trust).