Richard is a prizewinning writer of fiction and poetry. In 2020, his YA novel ‘The Wolf Road’ was a book of the year in the Sunday Times, Guardian and Financial Times, longlisted for the Carnegie Award and won the Mal Peet Award. He has since published two MG novels, ‘Shadow Town’ and ‘The Republic of Dreams’, books of the year in the Times and Guardian respectively. His novels were published by Everything with Words. Richard also writes contemporary and literary fiction; his stories have been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Short Story award and won the Fish Short Story prize. He has published two poetry collections. His second, ‘The Nameless Places’, came out with Arc. From 2022-2024 he was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of East Anglia, working one-to-one with students on their writing. He has an MA in Creative Writing from UEA, and has delivered more than 40 creative-writing workshops across the UK. Richard is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: MG, YA, Contemporary and Literary Fiction, Poetry.

Clare is a middle grade author. Her debut, The Unexpected Tale of Bastien Bonlivre (2021, Usborne) was selected as a Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month. The historical mystery, influenced by Clare’s passion for languages and her time studying French at university, went onto be a bestseller and its sequel, and The Bad Brothers, was published the following summer. Clare’s latest middle grade eco-adventure The Wanderdays: Journey to Fantome Island published in summer 2024 (Usborne) and she is currently working on another Wanderdays adventure due to be published next year.

She has visited hundreds of schools for creative writing workshops and has an in-depth, commercial knowledge of the middle grade market and the children's publishing landscape. She has a real passion for working with middle grade writers to create the best possible characters and stories for children. 

In addition, Clare has worked in publishing for over eight years and created the W&A Working-Class Writers’ Prize in 2018 where she reads and offers feedback on every submission. She was also a judge for the 2023 and 2024 Sadie Massey Portico Prize and, most recently, wrote her first mystery play, The Book of Eternity, for the Northern Opera Group which toured venues across Yorkshire.

Interests: All middle grade genres, with a particular love for adventure, mystery, historical, horror.

Alex writes under both Alex Campbell and Alex Cotter and has published YA and middle grade (MG) novels. Her MG titles, ‘The Mermaid Call’ and ‘The House on the Edge’, have recently been published with Nosy Crow. ‘The House on the Edge’ was chosen as a WHSmith Travel Book of the Month and she has a third MG story coming out in October 2023. Alex is also the author of YA novels with Hot Key Books, ‘Land’ and ‘Cloud 9’, with ‘Land’ being nominated for the CLIP Carnegie Award 2016.

In addition to her fiction writing, Alex is an experienced copywriter and mentor for writers across all genres. Plus, she works as an Associate Lecturer in Creative Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University. Alex is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: All YA and MG genres.

Clem (she/her) is a Bonnier Books UK editor based in Scotland. She has an MLitt in Publishing Studies from the University of Stirling and a BA in Creative Writing and English Literature from the London Metropolitan University, and was longlisted for the 2019 Mslexia Novel Competition. She has worked as a freelance developmental editor, copy-editor and proofreader in genre fiction for nearly a decade, and now edits and commissions fiction for Black & White Publishing and Ink Road within BBUK. Her favourite genres are YA, fantasy, commercial fiction and (cosy) crime. When she’s not at work or writing her own novels, she spends her time wild swimming or renovating her cottage with her husband. Clem is a core editor.

Interests: commercial fiction, YA, fantasy, crime and romance.

Ericka was born in Hertfordshire, and has lived in Brighton for over half her life. Her debut novel, Dog Days, was published by Doubleday in 2021. Her second novel, Goodbye Birdie Greenwing, is due for publication in 2024. Ericka is an award-winning blogger, and her weekly ‘Fresh voice’ column for the Argus Newspaper won Columnist of the year in the Regional Press Awards 2015. She completed the Faber Academy 2018-2019, and runs writing classes for secondary school children as well as mentoring services. Ericka is a very keen fiction reader and dog lover, and is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: commercial and literary fiction – anything character led!

Lou has helped countless numbers of writers with written and one-on-one feedback and has over 25 years’ experience as a tutor. She studied Drama at the University of East Anglia, taught Drama, then returned to UEA to do their MA in Creative Writing, publishing two novels with Headline Review, The Water’s Edge and The Haven Home for Delinquent Girls. Lou then did a PhD, went travelling, and started a family while working full-time as a university lecturer. She left her job in 2017 to find more time to write. Poetry credits include Perverse, Rialto, Under the Radar and Shearsman, and her short story collection, Unusual Places, came out in 2018. She has since self-published several guides to the writing process. Lou currently teaches Creative Writing part-time for the Open University and has worked with New Writing South and Creative Future as well as several other community organisations. She is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: Quirky or weird fiction, coming of age stories, literary fiction, murder mysteries, self-help, short stories, neurodivergent or LGBTQ+ writing.

Nick is a fiction writer and freelance editor. His first novel, comic coming-of-age story Saint Valentine, was published by Transworld in 2003; former Children’s Laureate Jacqueline Wilson said of its protagonist: ‘I wish I’d invented him.’ His creepy middle-grade Molly Thompson series, published by Walker Books, has been optioned for television by Netflix. He was a regular columnist for a national magazine for over a decade, and has been an English teacher and Academic Learning Mentor. Nick is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: middle grade and YA fiction, mystery, horror, humour, fantasy, coming-of-age stories, memoir, self-help and personal development

Dionne is an American author living in England, who began as a Cornerstones UK editor before managing Cornerstones’s launch into the US. She writes YA, MG and adult fiction, and is represented by Writers House in NYC. She has been a long- and short-list judge for the Bath and Caledonia novel awards since their inception, and a PitchWars mentor since 2014. She previously wrote and edited scripts for TV, and copyedited speeches for President Bill Clinton during his first term. Dionne also currently writes and edits for the Paper Nations project run by Bath Spa University’s English Department. Dionne is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: YA and Middle Grade, all adult fiction less Sci-Fi and fantasy

Will’s writing on travel, culture, politics and other subjects has appeared on sites including BBC Travel, Slate, OpenDemocracy, the Calvert Journal and Roads and Kingdoms, among others. He is also the founder and editor of the culture and travel site Deep Baltic. He has completed a large number of reports and successfully mentored a range of authors for Cornerstones over the last few years, including guiding Daniel Godfrey’s New Pompeii (Titan Books) to publication. Will is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: contemporary adult fiction, literary fiction

Terri is the award-winning author of The Oaklands Manor trilogy, the Penhaligon Saga, and the Fox Bay Saga. She currently writes family sagas for Little, Brown, and crime thrillers for Hobeck Books. Terri has also self-published The Lynher Mill Chronicles, a series of Mythic Fantasy books, and as a hybrid author she is keen to help writers at all stages of their careers find the perfect path for their work. Terri is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: crime/thriller, historical fiction, family sagas, women's fiction, fantasy, commercial fiction

Sangu is the author of YA novel The Lost Girl. (HarperCollins US and Random House UK, 2012) and a forthcoming YA space opera trilogy. She’s currently also working on a new middle grade novel, several picture book projects and a new YA fantasy. She is an experienced editor of children’s fiction and has written a play that was performed by schools in India. She has been an editor and mentor with Cornerstones since 2014. Sangu is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: all picture book genres, YA and MG science fiction, fantasy, contemporary and historical

Em is a novelist and prose fiction author with an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University. Their debut novel, And This is True, was published by Sceptre in 2010 and shortlisted for The Dylan Thomas Prize, The Saltire Scottish First Book Award and the Readers’ First Book Award at Edinburgh’s International Literary Festival. Their second novel, In Search of Solace, was published in 2014 (Sceptre) and longlisted for the Green Canation Prize and the Folio Prize. Em has coordinated and facilitated creative writing workshops, mentoring sessions, writing retreats and gives talks to schools, universities and extracurricular groups about the writing and publishing process. They have been a freelance literary consultant since 2009. Em is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: adult commercial or literary fiction (any genre), experimental writing, character-based novels, themes on identity, familial conflict, nature writing and memoir, landscape and the environment, spirituality, mindfulness.

Mark is the author of three thrillers and a former specialist in Technology Disaster Recovery for oil companies and global banks. He is member of the author touring group ‘Four Blokes In Search of a Plot’, a show which performs in theatres and arts venues around Scotland, which writes a very short crime novel live on stage, while discussing all the aspects of being a writer. He has appeared at festivals across Scotland and was invited to Thrillerfest in New York for three years running. He is represented by a leading London literary agency. Mark is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: Crime, thriller, techo-thriller, speculative, psychological, commercial fiction, fantasy and science fiction

Titania is a writer/director/dramaturge with a background in theatre. She has had several plays produced and has published shorts with Scholastic. She holds an MA in Writing for Young People from Bath Spa, and was a reader for The Times Chickenhouse Prize. For eight years she read and critiqued playscripts for Paines Plough New Writing Theatre Company. She has practised yoga for years and has attended workshops and read widely in the mindfulness/well-being area.

Titania has recently edited an anthology of children's poems and stories aged 0-18, 'Northern Dreaming' published by Leeds 2023 & British Library. She has also been granted Arts Council funding to develop her creative practice as a writer/director in 2023. She has been an editor and mentor with Cornerstones for over ten years, and Titania is a core editor.

Interests: women's fiction, literary, commercial, thrillers, under-represented voices, well-being, children's/YA

Anna writes fiction, stage, screen, opera and journalism. She has won Writers Guild, Time Out and Yeovil Fiction awards and has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and others. She has over 30 years’ experience in dramaturgy, creative writing teaching, coaching and mentoring, and has been a Royal Literary Fund Fellow since 2005, working across the UCLH Trust as a writer-on-call, and has been an editor and mentor at Cornerstones since 2010.

She is passionate about helping writers at all stages gain confidence to tell their stories and find their voice. Anna is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: short story, contemporary literary fiction, women’s fiction, historical, commercial, and anything quirky, unique, experimental

Paul is a writer and business consultant. He has a First Class Honours Degree in Creative Writing and Children’s Literature and a Master’s degree in Creative Writing. His first book was published by The Economist in 2007 and is now in its third edition. He has had several further books published by Kogan Page, forming part of their hugely influential ‘Business Success’ series. He is also published by Routledge, distinguished specialists in academic subject matter. He has written for magazines and professional publications as diverse as the Independent, Evening Standard, Maxim and Viz comic. He has also written for television. He has a novel nearing completion. As a reviewer, editor and teacher of creative writing, Paul has supported developing writers for many years. Paul is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: autobiography, memoir, travel, business and management textbooks, self-help books

Rowena is a journalist and a prize-winning short story writer, published by Andersen Press, with her debut novel out with Walker Children’s Books in 2018. She has a MA in Writing for Young People from Bath Spa University (passed with distinction). She’s appeared at the Bath Children’s Literature Festival, runs creative writing sessions on adult and young people’s fiction, and judges a south Devon short story competition. Rowena blogs about writing techniques and developments in the publishing industry on the Scattered Authors’ Society’s Awfully Big Blog Adventure. Rowena is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: Teen & YA, historical including military & wars, literary & commercial fiction including teen romance

Debz is an award-winning short-story writer and a published novelist. She has had over thirty short stories published, as well as being shortlisted in a number of writing competitions. These include the prestigious US Pushcart Prize 2013, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2013, and Debz was the winner of the inaugural Bath Short Story Award 2013. Her firsts novel was published in 2013 and her short story collection was published in 2019. She has edited for Cafelit (online magazine) and edits and commissions short stories for Bridge House Publishing. She has been an editor and mentor with Cornerstones since 2014. Debz is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: short story collections, literary, psychological thrillers, YA

Kate’s first novel was published in 2007; since then she has continued to publish over fifty works of historical, romance, and women’s fiction. She has been published by Penguin, Hachette, Harper Collins, Lion Fiction, and Tule Publishing, and she is a USAToday bestselling author with over three million copies of her books in print. Some of her latest novels include: That Night at the Beach (2023), When We Were Innocent (2022), and The Angel of Vienna (2022). In addition to writing, she has taught creative writing workshops and guided retreats, and has participated in one-to-one online author mentoring. She has been appointed a Royal Literary Fund Teaching Fellow at Cardiff University for 2023-2024. She is passionate about helping readers to create compelling characters and powerful emotional conflicts, so their stories can come alive. An American ex-pat, she currently lives in South Wales with her husband and five children. Kate is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: historical, contemporary, and commercial fiction

Nicholas Herrmann is a writer and editor based in Scotland. His fiction won the New Voices Award in the 2022 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, and has been shortlisted for the Bath Novel Award. His non-fiction – featured in Places Journal, Ernest Journal and Little White Lies, among other publications – focuses on place, identity and culture. He has a decade of editorial experience with clients such as HarperCollins, Faber & Faber and Juilliard, and has worked as a developmental editor for six years, specialising in memoir, literary fiction and speculative fiction. He graduated with Distinction from the Creative Writing MA at Bath Spa University in 2017 and is currently studying for a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of St Andrews. Nick is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: narrative non-fiction and memoir, travel writing, writing with a strong sense of place, books with ecological themes, literary fiction, speculative fiction and science fiction