Ian Whates lives in a comfortable home down a quiet cul-de-sac in an idyllic Cambridgeshire village in the UK, which he shares with his partner Helen and their pets. Ian's love of science fiction began while still at school, manifesting 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. Ian also represented his school at various sports, including football, squash, and table tennis, while swimming saw him perform for both school and the county of Hertfordshire! Such athletic feats are now ancient history. These days he exercises only his mind and his imagination (and, occasionally, a cocker spaniel called Honey).In 2006 Ian launched independent publisher NewCon Press, quite by accident (buy him a pint sometime and he'll tell you about it). That same year he also resumed submitting short stories, and has now seen some 40 appear in different venues. He is currently the chairman of the British Science Fiction Association and co-organiser of the Newcon conventions in Northampton, UK.Ian also likes to write books, and has two novel sequences ongoing, the 'Noise' books (space opera) via Solaris, and the 'City of 100 Rows' series (urban fantasy with steampunk and SF overtones) through Angry Robot. Anxious not to have too much spare time on his hands, Ian started work a new SF series towards the end of 2010... So watch this space!