"History is a treasure chest which contains not only facts and figures, archive material and artefacts but stories. I love the stories."Sara Sheridan was born in Edinburgh and studied at Trinity College, Dublin. She works in a wide range of media and genres. Tipped in Company and GQ magazines, she has been nominated for a Young Achiever Award. She has also received a Scottish Library Award and was shortlisted for the Saltire Book Prize. She sits on the committee for the Society of Authors in Scotland (where she lives) and on the board of UK-wide writers' collective '26' the campaign for the importance of words. She blogs on the Guardian site about her writing life and puts her hand up to being a 'twitter evangelist'. She also appears, occasionally on BBC Radio, most recently on Radio 4's From Our Own Correspondent, talking about Estonian independence on one occasion and human rights in UAE on another. She mentors writers for the Scottish Book Trust. Sara is also a member of the Historical Writers' Association (for Secret of the Sands and The Secret Mandarin) and the Crime Writers' Association (for the Mirabelle Bevan Mystery series). A self-confessed 'word nerd' her favourite book is 'Water Music' by TC Boyle.