Wymondham welcomes back the hit ‘Meet Your Local Authors’ event!
StarCraft, a brand-new company by Norfolk author Samuel J. White, aims to help aspiring authors make their dreams a reality. The event offers you the chance to meet some local authors who will be giving talks throughout the day and selling signed copies of their work.
The event will take place on the 18th of April 2026 from 10am to 2pm at the Abbey Hall. Talks will also be hosted throughout the day at the Little Norfolk Studio. There will be activities and refreshments.
If you are an author and would like to join us at future events, please email storycraft@gmail.com.
Now – time to meet the authors!
Samuel J. White
Samuel J. White, host of the event, is an author and former indoor rowing champion who grew up in Hevingham. He always wanted to write but never found the time until a change of circumstances in 2014. He published his twisting paranormal romance about two strangers sharing a dream, 'A Midwinter Night’s Dream: The Broccoli, the Stilton and the Haystack' in 2017, followed by the first part of his paranormal series 'Derailed and dispersed’, set on the marshes around Great Yarmouth. His 2020 release, 'Roaring into the Norfolk sunset', tells the tale of a motorcycling couple as their lives flash in front of them on the Acle straight.
Samuel has sold over 1000 books at local events since 2023. His bestseller by far is 'Maria's Photograph', a ghost story based on an actual photograph from Hevingham school.
David Viner
David Viner has had several short stories published since 2007. He has edited and contributed to both Redwell Writers anthologies (one in 2017, one in 2020). In 2020, he self-published two novels, ‘Splinters’ and ‘Time Portals of Norwich’, and has followed the latter with two sequels, Time's Revenge (2022) and Time's Paradox (2024). In addition, he has released two collections of short stories, Time Enough for the World to End (2021) and Beyond Between (2023) and has published two other authors. He is currently working on at least two more Time Portals sequels!
Jack W Gregory
Jack W Gregory, also known as The Accidental Journalist, is a formerly homeless addict who turned his life around using creativity. In his almost 11 years of sobriety, he has not only rebuilt his life and family in Wymondham but has carved out a life in film, poetry, filmmaking, Investigative Journalism and International Speaking on podcasts all over the world, having worked on projects for Martin Scorsese, Tom Burke, Joanna Hogg, A24, BBC and ITN. In his relatively short journalistic career, he has interviewed everyone from former criminals, comedians, convicted terrorists, serial killers and former undercover police to escapees of human trafficking, 80s Popstars such as Chesney Hawkes.
Jack's first book, ‘A Personal Apocalypse’, is a biography/poetry fusion. His second book, ‘Between the Streetlights and Red Lights’, is an exposé into the world of human trafficking and the stories of those who escaped it, loosely based on Jack’s own experience of being trafficked as a child. He has also written 2 poetry chapbooks and collaborated on other true crime books with other authors.
Sandra Derry
Sandra Derry is an author and illustrator of the Applegate Farm books.
She was born a daughter to a cowman and raised on farms in the East Anglian countryside. It is from there that she drew inspiration for her farm animal stories.
The stories are written for children 2-8 years and designed to give a little insight into each animal's role on the farm.
A donation of 50p is given to charity for every book sold.
Alex Perry
Alex’s "Talking to the Chameleon" is a children's book illustrated by Sandra Derry. A tale is about a little girl called Rosie, who is shy, quiet, and does not express her feelings. Then one day a chameleon called Kenny is brought into her school, and everything changes.
Peter Steward
Peter Steward is a journalist from Hethersett. Since retiring, he has been involved in numerous groups and organisations and to date has authored five books.
‘Hell in Paradise’ is the story of a massacre in Northern France during the Second World War. His latest is ‘Salt In My Typewriter’, the story of a young journalist in a seaside town in the 1970s.
‘A Charmed Life’ is his autobiography, and ‘Lockdown Blogs Volume One’ features Facebook blogs written during the first seven months of the COVID lockdown.
He is currently working on several non-fiction titles about the history of Hethersett. A novel is also in the pipeline.
Following his retirement, he now spends his time on voluntary work in Hethersett and writing books. In 2024, he was given a lifetime achievement award by South Norfolk Council.
His first published book, "Hell in Paradise", was co-written with John Head and tells the true story of a massacre at Le Paradis in Northern France in which 97 soldiers lost their lives.
He followed this with an autobiography entitled "A Charmed Life" and "Lockdown Blogs Volume One". The latter of these is a collection of blogs written during lockdown.
Josephine Greenland
Josephine Greenland is a Swedish-British writer from Eskilstuna, Sweden, based in Norwich where she is doing a PhD in creative writing at UEA. She studied English and creative writing at the universities of Exeter and Birmingham, before completing a PGCE at the University of Edinburgh and working as a schoolteacher. She taught English as a foreign language in Thailand, Austria and Spain before returning to the UK to pursue her PhD. Her first novel, Embers, a YA mystery novel set in northern Sweden, written for her MA, was published by Unbound in 2021. Her short fiction has won two competitions and been published in numerous magazines, including Tangerine, The Bluebird Word, Toasted Cheese, Litro Magazine and Dream Catcher. When not writing she can be found at music festivals or camping in the great outdoors.
K.L.J. Browne
Karen Hawkins and Laura Willis are a mother-and-daughter author team, and together we are K.L.J Browne.
Karen was born in Wreningham, near Wymondham, living with her parents and brother Kevin.
She always enjoyed writing as a teenager, but writing stopped for a while when Laura and Glen were born.
Laura also enjoyed writing, and in lockdown, they put some ideas together, and ‘Her’ was born, published by Pegasus.
The sequel to ‘Her’ is out this year, and another book called ‘A Bundle of Sticks’, a fictional story set in the late 1800s near the Wymondham area.
Janette Bishop
Janette Bishop writes for the parents who are tired of sticker charts, Pinterest-perfect solutions, and endless advice that doesn’t work in the middle of real-life chaos.
She is the author of Heal Your Family with Love, a collection of short, metaphorical stories that gently unravel the hidden patterns running between parent and child, and Heal Your Family with Love: Journal, a 30-day reflective companion filled with humour, honesty, and little “Dragonfly Dares” to help parents find their way back to love (and themselves).
Janette’s writing isn’t about fixing parents or children. It’s about sitting beside them in the mess, the tantrums, the guilt, and the overwhelm, and reminding them that they were never broken. Her work combines imagination, compassion, and the kind of honesty you’d usually only admit to a close friend after bedtime.
When she’s not writing, Janette is usually with her kids, on 1-1 parent coaching sessions, hiding in the pantry with chocolate, or finding new ways to turn everyday parenting struggles into metaphors that make us laugh, cry, and breathe a little easier.
Her books are designed to be read in the cracks of everyday life. Written between reheating coffee, negotiating bedtime, or sneaking a few moments of quiet. Helping readers feel less alone, more human, and a little more hopeful.
Zelda C Thorn
Zelda C Thorn is a foreign language teacher from Norfolk. ‘Star Status', her collection of short stories, has been wowing readers since 2023.
Tony Warner
Tony Warner has degrees in both Philosophy and History of Art, which may explain why he is married to a painter and is working on restoring the tower of a 13th century church. His career has seen him teaching in Bulgaria, managing projects in Spain and writing everywhere.
His writing life has been as a freelance arts journalist, writer of a textbook on Communications, assistant editor on a poetry magazine, writer of exhibition catalogue introductions and editor of a multi-volume training manual for British army officers. In between, he has written poetry, short stories and several novels, including spy stories, detective novels and a hard-hitting social realist novel.
Dawn Funnell
Dawn Funnell is a children's fantasy author recently featured in the EDP. She is the author of ‘Temira Burtons and the Pharaoh’s Treasure’ and its sequel, ‘Temira Burtons and the Magic Lantern’.
Jack Royall
Jack Royall suffers from tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) – a rare genetic condition which can lead to growths in organs such as the brain, eyes, heart and kidneys – and refractory epilepsy, a common neurological feature of TSC. In 2018, he was forced to battle the NHS to fund a drug which has saved his life. Jack sees his book not only as an autobiography but as a self-help manual with the emphasis on giving people the ability to diagnose themselves and others. Proceeds from the book will go toward research into the condition.
