I got involved in local history as part of the Basildon Heritage Project Team in 2007.

It has been so interesting learning about the local history of Basildon, not so new town! In my research I have met such interesting characters. I've had some wonderful feedback from people, as they've leafed through the pages some have been brought back to the time of their childhood.

'Lost Basildon' was released in August 2019 by Amberley Publishing. My first book 'Basildon Through Time' was published in November 2014. View my author website here: - https://www.lisajhorner.com/

Dawn spent much of her childhood making up stories filled with romance, drama and excitement. She loved fairy tales, although if she cast herself as a character, she’d more likely have played the part of the Court Jester than the Princess. She didn’t recognise it at the time, but she was searching for the emotional depth in the stories she read. It wasn’t enough to be told the Prince loved the Princess, she wanted to know how he felt and to see him declare his love. She wanted to see the wedding. And so, she’d furnish her stories with those details.

Nowadays, she hopes to write books that will engage readers’ passions. From poignant stories set during the First World War, to the zany antics of the inhabitants of the fictitious town of Basilwade; and from historical romances, to the fantasy adventures of a group of anthropomorphic animals led by a chicken with delusions of grandeur, she explores the richness and depth of human emotion.

A book by Dawn will offer laughter or tears – or anything in between, but if she touches your soul, she’ll consider her job well done.

She has been a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards for 2017 and 2020, Readers' Favorite Book Awards 2018 and Independent Author Network Book of the Year Award 2018.

Dawn has also written two plays about the First World War, which have been performed in England, Germany and France.

If you'd like to receive some free stories and added information about her books as well as an email newsletter from Dawn, please sign up on her blog https://dawnknox.com

Writing under a pen name while Colin was working gave him experience selling articles to travel magazines, and helped pay for some holidays. But he always felt that he couldn’t be a real writer until he had a novel up on the shelf over his desk, and that happened in 2016 with the publication of Dot’s Legacy, the first of The Park Trilogy. Dot's Surprise followed in 2017, but it wasn't until 2022 that Dot's Secret was published.

A flurry of projects took over Colin's writing life in the intervening years. A book of short stories, Transport of Dreams, about travelling in cars, motorhomes, planes, cycles and even just by armchair, appeared in 2018 followed by articles in magazines and invitations to appear in many anthologies.

A very unusual project took Colin and fellow writer, Dawn Knox through the 2020 Pandemic year. Living ten miles apart Colin and Dawn used every type of communication available to produce a book, The Future Brokers, set in 2050 and looking at the human reaction to global warming and the rise of Artificial Intelligence, Published in 2021 it is not so much Science Fiction, but Climate Fiction. A second book is among the latest projects.

Bas Write is the collective name for the Basildon Writers' Group. Our first anthology, 'It Happened in Essex', has been dedicated to, and all proceeds go to, Basildon Hospital Radio.

Kevin Wood was born in London in 1956. He lived in the north of England and the Midlands before settling in Basildon in South Essex at the age of nine.

He spent his working career as a Chartered Management Accountant before turning his hand to writing after taking early retirement. He writes dramatic dark thrillers, English urban noir, science fiction and climate fiction.

His first novella, a collection of short stories, titled The Search for Ellie Babble was published in 2022. It explores a number of issues in each story. Issues like abusive relationships, vengeance, mental health struggles and witchcraft.

He has had a number of short stories published on the website CafeLit Magazine. Two of these stories, Isolation Day 1483 and Pebbles on the Beach, were featured in the anthology The Best of CafeLit 11. This was also published in 2022.

The Search for Ellie Babble and the Best of CafeLit 11 are available from Amazon books.