Despite being an independent publishing company, we do not specialise in just one type of book. All of our authors are unique and have written a book that is either original or ground-breaking. For instance, when we acquired the rights to The London Vampire Diaries, a combination of autobiography written as horror, we knew this was something totally chilling and unique. And when Matt Adcock showed us his theologically underpinned dark, sci-fi fantasy: Complete Darkness, we knew that this was a product that would appeal to a large fan base of Christian futuristic fiction. Likewise, we love nature and have worked on books centred around hedgehogs and toads. The list goes on... What matters to us is a passion for storytelling and the drive and enthusiasm of the author doing the storytelling. Read more about some of our authors below:
As well as an author, Matt is a blog editor, Communications Professional, and the weekly film reviewer for a regional newspaper group.
Matt is a lover of all things virtual, sci-fi, superhero and theological...
He loves to interact with readers: Tweet him: @Cleric20
Read his film reviews and more: www.darkmatt.blogspot.com
Discover more about the Darkmatters Universe: artwork, merchandise, links to prequel short story, media and future plans (including comic versions of the book: www.Completedarknessnovel.com
Owen W Knight is a writer of contemporary and speculative fiction. His works include Another Life, described as ‘It’s a Wonderful Life for the 21st Century’ and The Invisible College Trilogy, an apocalyptic dystopian conspiracy tale for young adults and adults alike, described as ‘1984 Meets the Book of Revelation’. He has since published another science-fiction novel, The Visitors, and is currently working on a new thriller.
Owen was born in Southend-on-Sea at a time when children spent their days outdoors, creating imaginary worlds that formed the basis of their adventures and social interaction.
He has used this experience to create a world based on documented myths, with elements of dystopia, mystery and science fiction, highlighting the use and abuse of power and the conflicts associated with maintaining ethical values.
Owen lives in Essex, close to the countryside that inspired his trilogy.
abigail de montfort
Abigail is an illustrator with a keen interest in photography and graphical artist.
In November 2018 she collaborated on a picture book with children's author, Richard Mayers, to produce The Hedgehog's Full Moon Party.
Abigail also works with Central Bedfordshire Libraries and is engaged on other illustration projects. After her book published, Abigail landed a contract with Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd for her first solo project, Broken Cat, which is released later in 2020.
John Michaelson met us by chance in London at a stage when we were setting up Burton Mayers Books and he was at a stage where he was ready to share his story with the world.
John doesn't class himself as a vampire hunter, more of an advocate for those who have been victims of so-called 'vampires'. His first book, October's Son, was a very personal account of his descent into a dangerous subculture existing in London. Two years later he wrote Nuptial Flight, a chilling expose on the link between vampirism and human trafficking.
In September 2017 John Michaelson vanished - with his last tweet stating he was returning to London reluctantly to attend to unfinished business.
At Burton Mayers Books, we will uphold his legacy and run his website and books in the hope that one day he will return.
Liz would describe herself as a bit of a nature lover, with a special thing for lumpy and bumpy toads.
Liz works freelance as an artist and specialised in typography. In 2019 she published her first children's book, The adventures of Osmond the Toad.
The Priory school
In 2019 Richard Mayers launched a school based anthology project with the aim to raise money for the school library and raise the profile of reading (and writing) across the school. The book was released on World Book Day 2020 and was such a fun project to work on. Read the full article by clicking on the image to the left.
A new school anthology titled Set Free was published in March 2022.
Richard Mayers is a children's author and director of Burton Mayers Books. He started writing stories at the age of six and continues to write short stories and longer stories for children and adults. In 2012 he published Spikez with John Burton, designer and illustrator, and much of their work can be found at animalcyborgs.com
Spikez is the first in a series of books about an unlikely group of animal cyborgs. He has also written a prequel, Making Trakz, and a hedgehog themed picture book with Abigail de Montfort.
As a teacher, Richard loves exploring narrative theory with his A-level classes. He is also a doctoral student at Bournemouth University, enrolled on the Ed-D Creative Media Practice programme; his thesis is on The Untapped Potential of Digital Narratives in education.
When not writing or editing or publishing books, Richard rehabilitates ex-battery hens or works on websites linked to his passions, Media Studies and stories. He has delivered various school workshops across primary and secondary schools in London, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. He has also taken part in creative writing projects, such as BBC Radio Lincolnshire's The Storyteller Project.
Dan Klefstad is a longtime radio host and newscaster at NPR station WNIJ.
His latest novel, Fiona’s Guardians, is about humans who work for a beautiful manipulative vampire. It'll be available in October, 2020.
His latest short story, “Who Killed
Publishing?” has almost nothing to do with vampires. You’ll find it in the Summer 2020 edition of Literary Heist. Dan is currently looking for a home for another short story, “Cowboy Load.”
A hardback version was released in October 2023 and he is currently finishing the sequel, since moving to Kentucky.
He is Burton Mayers Books' first US author.
Chris Malone is our first female thriller author to join the ranks of Burton Mayers Books. She has since published four titles.
Chris has worked for over 30 years in education and has championed women's groups and outdoor activity centres in England and Wales. Her first book, Zade, was published in May 2020 by Austin Macauley Publishers.
Her novel #stoptheglitch is a dystopian thriller set in a post-pandemic world where a technological 'glitch' threatens the very fabric of modern civilisation.
The book hit the shelves at the end of October 2020 and her follow up novel, #isolate was released on 15th October 2021; #Futureproof completed the triology in October 2023.
In April 2022, Chris published her first satirical novella, A School Inspector Calls: But Who is the Fool in the School.
Follow us on Twitter @BurtonMayers or Chris @CMoiraM for more details.
David writes from his home in Northern Ireland, where he lives with his beautiful wife Christine and their two dogs, Lupin and Ghost. He loves books, movies, football (he's better at watching than playing), and getting his hiking boots dirty.
The Soulburn Talismas is David's debut novel, an exciting YA epic fantasy.
Rhian, Lisa and Hélène are professional Specialised Speech and Language Therapists by day and budding picture book authors at all other times. Their debut book, The Sound We Found, is designed to encourage early sound and rhyme play. You can see their biographies and learn more about the book here
In 2021, the book received funding from the Welsh Government to translate the book into Welsh! A new title, The Sound We See, was published in June 2022 and there are now several translations of both books.
The horror genre just got a lot darker.
Gavin Gardiner is our first Scottish author to join Burton Mayers Books. Gavin is an excellent writer and has already had several short stories and articles published online, and has an entry in a horror anthology due out in 2021. Gavin also published a rather excellent novella with us titled: The Last Testament of Crighton Smythe in October 2021.
He’s currently working on his second novel, Witchcraft on Rücken Ridge, and has grand plans for the future of his unique brand of horror. He very much hopes you’ll join him for the ride.
For Rye is his debut novel - and what a story it is. Find out more about Gavin here
Dr. Mounter has three intellectual passions: medicine, history, and literature. At forty-nine years of age, he is a full-time Histopathologist working on the Isle of Wight.
The opportunity to develop his other interests – history and literature – came about when he was in his early forties. His two sons were no longer young children, and he had managed to secure a permanent consultant position. This led him to write his first novel, ‘Bitching Bits of Bone’. Published in 2016 by Austin Macauley, this dark comedic retelling of Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales’ enabled him to explore aspects of fourteenth century medicine.
Five years on, his second novel has permitted him to fully flex his medical muscles and to concentrate his acumen upon arguably one of the darkest places in human history: the pathology laboratory of Dr. Josef Mengele at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Rob worked for many years as an English teacher and Deputy Headteacher in London before moving on to train new English teachers and to write fiction.
Originally from Teesside, he became familiar with Runswick Bay, the North Yorkshire Moors and the city of York, first as a child, and then as a student. His love of the history and geography of these locations can be seen on every page of “The Watcher and the Friend”, his first book for children. He now networks in Brighton and is finalising his follow-up novel.
Pam is an author, chartered psychologist, historian, researcher and grandparent.
Originally from London, but based in Leeds since 1986, she taught and researched across community education, schools, colleges and universities between 1994 and 2019, publishing many academic articles, books and chapters.
She is currently a blogger and conference/training presenter. On Time is her first foray into science fiction writing, released July 2021, with a sequel currently in production.
You can also catch Pam actively commenting on early years education and the political fallout of Covid and Partygate through her excellent blog:
#3teachers
Mark Coates, Lisa Willis and Grant Davidson are three teachers who collaborated on their first picture book: Musical Bones. Their colourful and humorous book is a fun mix of all their talents (English, Art and Music) with a feelgood message. You can expect to see more of these three on social media with their fun ideas for teaching and learning. You can also check out videos and lessson ideas on their author page.
VICKY BALL
Vicky has been a teacher for fourteen years. She is currently teaching English at a school in Suffolk. She has always loved writing and has been doing it for many years. She has been on numerous writing courses which have allowed her to share her love of writing with others. She is also a passionate reader, enjoying a variety of genres especially thrillers.
She lives in North Essex with her husband and two teenager daughters. Powerless is her first novel and a dream come true. In September 2023 she published her second novel, Abandoned.
Julia Minott
Julia Minott is the founder of The Old School Kitchen Bedford, running cooking classes for kids and families.
In December 2021 she released a new type of colouring activity book for young chefs with local author and illustrator, Abi de Montfort.
Cook and Colour at Christmas was a perfect stocking filler and a great way to promote her business.
Emmalena Ellis
Emmalena L. Ellis was raised in Hertfordshire, UK by a single mother, her grandparents and her uncle. She began writing at age four, before continuing to win creative writing cups and prizes at school, before going on to study at Keele University, where she gained a BA Hons in English and American Literature.
Ginsterpigs is her first published novel, released in February 2022 with a paperback version due later in 2023. Pictured (right) at Waterstones launch event.
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Kateri Stanley
Kateri Stanley is a pseudonym for the multi-genre fiction writer. Since being a child, Kateri has been inspired by the wondrous mediums of books, music, TV and film. After working in the healthcare industry for eight years and studying for an Arts and Humanities degree, she made the decision to move cities in the West Midlands and live with her ever-suffering partner and their two cats.
Her debut novel Forgive Me was published by indie press house, Darkstroke Books in 2021 and it reached #1 in the US Horror Fiction charts on Amazon. She is currently working on her third novel, Bittersweet Injuries and would love to pursue a full-time career in writing.
Andrew Davis
Andrew Davis studied Philosophy of Religion with Richard Swinburne. A former primary teacher and university lecturer in Philosophy, Education and Primary Mathematics, he worked at Cambridge University and also taught Philosophy of Mind and Political Philosophy for the Open University.
He is currently Honorary Research Fellow at Durham University. His research interests include Educational Assessment, Reading, Maths Education and Educational Neuroscience. Publications include both academic papers and books, newspaper articles, a couple of children's stories and a regular magazine series about a (fictional) over-educated school caretaker.
Neuralnet's Children is his first YA fiction novel (June 2022) and he is writing several other sci-fi with philosophical themes embedded within them.
Merrill Hatlen
With a M.A. in Counseling Psychology, Merrill Hatlen's professional life in social services and public health has been balanced by his involvement in filmmaking, photography, and writing; he paid his dues by typing his first novel on a manual Smith Corona.
The course of his life was altered by spending three years in France, inspiring five novels, two screenplays, and a stage play (intended as a sequel to the Bard's Love's Labor Lost). A world traveler since an extended honeymoon in Europe, he and his wife have ventured as far as Greece, Morocco and China.
The Bard and The Barman: An Account of Shakespeare's lost years, is a fantastic debut into historical fiction blended with humour.
Jude was born in the UK and lives in Suffolk, where he combines a love of writing with that of music and composing.
Drawing inspiration from history, folklore, and the natural world, Jude has written science-fiction and fantasy stories for children and adults.
As a self-taught musician, working from his own studio at the peripheries of the industry (Slate Bird Studios), Jude has been able to pursue his passion for music free from constraint, and indulge in an atmosphere of unbridled creativity.
Celeste and The Witch Garden, a children's/young adult sci-fi/fantasy, is Jude's first novel published in the UK.
John Barry Quinn is a former Fleet Street journalist. From humble beginnings, climbing the grease journalism pole, he started out at the Southampton Advertiser, a brilliant and fun free sheet. He then moved through a series of papers: the weekly Basingstoke Gazette, a spell on the BT sports reporting service as a producer, then an evening paper, the Bournemouth Echo. Eventually he settled at the Mail on Sunday and was part of a team that scooped the Campaigning Journalist of the Year award. He eventually left to set up Solent News & Photo Agency. With the help of brilliant journalists, he grew the agency into the most successful in Britain.
With the comfort blanket of financial security, he was able to start writing again, but in a more creative way. His first play, The Last Talent Show, broke box office records and his radio drama, Alchemy in Three Easy Lessons, won the BMAF writing competition and was subsequently broadcast. But it’s the novel that has been his dream and its culmination is The Reporter, published by Burton Mayers Books in summer 2023.
John Barry Quinn
gordon Parker
Gordon Parker has lived in the North East of England since birth but has travelled widely. He has written six novels and his latest novel titled ‘The Priest and the Whistle-blower’ introduces a tough, no nonsense, detective sergeant based in Newcastle and is a fast paced crime thriller involving theft, murder and a frightening threat to world peace.
Sian Mole
Siân lives in Cambridgeshire, England with her husband, two children and two fluffy bunnies. She loves big earrings, custard cream biscuits and being scared - just not too much! TRAPPED is her debut middle grade novel and you can find her online at www.sianmole.co.uk or on Instagram: sianmoleauthor
James Hewlett
James Hewlett was born and raised on the Channel Island of Jersey. Surrounded by the sea and lush, green fields, his passion was sports: playing, watching, and dreaming of being a famous footballer like his hero, ‘Roy of the Rovers’.
Father to Harvey and Robyn, he began sports writing in 2008 for local papers, magazines and the Jersey Reds Rugby Club, where he still volunteers both as a junior coach and as part of the media team.
‘Breakthrough’ is his first book in a series of fast-paced, feel-good football action adventure stories, telling the career of local boy Jack Harvey, and the Accies - his boyhood team.
Kathleen D Tresemer
Kathleen Tresemer was born and raised in Chicagoland;
she now lives in the rural Midwest near the
Illinois/Wisconsin border. She’s earned degrees from NIU
and Nova Southeastern University, enjoying careers in both
social services and professional writing.
Tresemer was co-founder of In Print Professional Writers
Organization, while earning awards for her fiction and
leading workshops for new writers.
Kathleen loves to write about different kinds of families. A
Case of Peaches is first in a series “from the files of June
Hunter.” Her debut novel, Time in a Bottle was published in
2016.
Chris Thorndyke
Chris Thorndyke was born in Totnes in South Devon and lived in what he describes as the most beautiful resort in Britain, Torbay. For many years he taught English to foreign students until moving to Sweden where he continued to teach in an International School in Lund. Now retired, he spends his time writing and enjoying Sweden’s forested and lakeside walks with his wife Anki and their pet dog, Sally. A father of three grown-up sons and six grandchildren, he and his wife regularly visit the UK to spend time in their favourite haunts and to catch up with family and friends.
Laura Payne
Originally from the West Country, Laura now lives and works as a Speech and Language Therapist in South Yorkshire. Laura is passionate about communicative diversity and everyone's right to have their voice heard and valued.
In 2019, she received the Giving Voice award from the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists for her disability activism. 'It Doesn't Matter How We Talk' is Laura's first book.
Liz Van Santen
Liz was born and brought up in Oxford. She started learning the violin aged seven, and discovered her love of music. She followed a rich and varied career in Education, culminating in an advisory role, working for Oxfordshire Education Authority. She is an advocate for young children, believing in the importance of fostering positive self-esteem in every child, from the earliest age. Since her retirement, Liz still enjoys practising her acrobatic dancing, yoga, skiing and wild swimming. She and her partner spend a lot of time travelling. She finds the beaches of the Riviera, the pine forests of the Médoc, and the solitude of cruising under sail in the West Country, ideal for fostering her creative writing.
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