Ian WhatesIan Whates lives in a comfortable home down a quiet cul-de-sac in an idyllic Cambridgeshire village, which he shares with his partner Helen and their pets--Honey the golden cocker spaniel, Calvin the tailless black cat, and Inky the goldfish (sadly, inky died a few years ago). Ian's love of science fiction began while he was still at school, manifesting itself when he produced an SF murder mystery as homework after being set the essay title "The Language of Shakespeare", much to the bemusement of his English teacher. Also while at school, Ian was awarded The Lord Mayor's Prize for English, in a competition open to all the schools in London. His first published stories appeared in the late 1980s, but it was not until the early 2000s that he began to pursue writing with any seriousness, joining the Northampton SF Writers Group in 2004 after being introduced to its chairman, Ian Watson. Read More Read Less