CraftaBestseller

A former police officer, Clare is one of Britain’s most successful crime authors, with nine books under her belt. Collectively, her novels have spent 65 weeks in the Sunday Times top ten Bestseller list, with more than three million copies sold across the world.

Clare has huge international experience in teaching creative writing to all those who want to follow in her footsteps and top the charts – not just in the area of crime, but across all genres, including romance, memoir and commercial fiction.

Luigi worked as a commissioning editor for many years, ending up as editorial director of Penguin Books before becoming a literary agent and setting up his own agency, LBA, in 2005. As an editor and agent, he works with some of the most successful commercial authors in the industry, including crime writers such as Peter James, top women’s fiction authors Josephine Cox, Fern Britton and Susan Lewis, and giants of historical fiction Simon Scarrow and David Gibbins. He has also helped celebrity authors Alan Titchmarsh, Professor Alice Roberts and Ben Miller achieve their dream of hitting the bestseller list with their novels. LBA’s authors regularly top the Sunday Times bestseller list, and his goal is to help you achieve the same success.

Alison began her career in the editorial department of Harlequin Mills & Boon, where she edited some of the most successful authors in romance. She then worked behind the scenes in television for many years. In 2005, she set up LBA with her husband, Luigi, working editorially with many of the company’s top authors, and focusing on women’s fiction, romance, psychological suspense and crime.

In 2023, writing as Emma Orchard, she published her first two historical novels, and has since had a total of twelve novels published, regularly topping the Regency charts and being hailed as the new queen of historical romance.

Jo James has been in the book trade for more than thirty years, and has been programming and running Britain’s top literary festivals since 2010. She’s worked with the biggest names in the business, from showbiz celebrities to acclaimed literary luminaries, and unusually in the festival world, works across multiple festivals every year.

Jo has put together numerous creative writing workshops as part of her festival programming, and leads a local author showcase at several festivals, highlighting exciting new talent. Jo will be the main point of contact for any queries about the course itself.