Discover how tennis has influenced our world in all sorts of weird and unexpected ways; From the fall of Kings to the birth of Democracy to inventing Banking; From inventing the Stock Market to Causing The 2008 World Financial Crisis; Find out how Tennis created The Secret Service, MI5 and James Bond; How it invented the Smart Phone; Even how it helped win the Second World War.

Also in the book – the never revealed before, 500 year old secret, as to why tennis is scored at 15 points at a time.

But this is no history lesson. This is raw entertainment.

Christian Howgill has written for many TV shows like: BBC’s Jasper Carrott for the Carrott Confidential show, which was twice nominated for a Palm d’Or in Cannes; He also wrote for Rory Bremner’s And Now Something Else; and Clive Anderson Talks Back on Channel 4.
For radio he has written for various shows like Weekending, The News Huddlines, and Two Cheers for BBC Radio 4.

He was a regular satirists on the Sideswipes column on Punch Magazine, and was a named columnist on Excel Magazine, Edge Magazine, FORE! Magazine, and Today’s Golfer. He has worked in the tennis world for almost 25 years including as the Editor of The Queen’s Club Magazine where he sourced many of the stories you will hear tonight.

“Deana Luchia is an author, editor and journalist. Her non-fiction books about dogs are informative, wise and funny, whilst her novels are quirky, poignant stories about misfits.
Deana offers a wide range of editing services and teaches creative writing classes. She also writes freelance features including celebrity interviews, travel and lifestyle pieces.”

J A Crawshaw is a multi award winning contemporary women’s fiction author. He writes uplifting and deeply emotional love stories of hope, courage, self-worth and romance.

The Grail Twins – A Cathar Legacy

More than a story – a mystery school initiation

A tale of dragons, an ancient bloodline, and the hidden wisdom of Sophia.

When Oxford doctor Annie Morgan turns to hypnotherapy to quiet her night terrors, she unlocks memories she cannot explain – glimpses of a Cathar girl fleeing Montségur, sacred relics entrusted to her care, and a treasure buried high above the monastery at Montserrat. As her visions lead her through Atlantis, Egypt, Druid Wales, Avalon, and Rosslyn Chapel, Annie pieces together the story of Anna and Dewi – twins born of Magdalene and Yeshua, protectors of Sophia’s flame, trained by Merlin and Taliesin, and guarded by dragons. In their Atlantean lifetime, their destiny is to restore balance after the Fall, healing the rift between light and shadow – a harmony that will one day awaken the true Grail. Now, as Annie walks the ancient stones and meets the man her soul has known for millennia, she learns what it truly means to be the Grail’s keeper in a world that has forgotten.

A story of love, remembrance, and the return of Sophia’s wisdom, The Grail Twins invites readers on a journey through history, myth, and the light within.

Russ Barr writes character-led fiction with heart and soul, sometimes dark, sometimes funny, but always trying to scratch beneath the surface of the human condition.

His debut novel, War Inc., is a darkly comic story about our insatiable appetite for content, and people who turn chaos into opportunity. He is also the author of the short story Crybully, published in 2024.

His current novel, Ten-Pound Note, is set in 1990s London and follows a single imperfect ten-pound note as it passes from person to person, revealing a chain of connected lives, bad decisions and unexpected consequences.

Russ is drawn to flawed characters, broken systems and the absurdity that often sits just beneath the surface of serious things.

Neil J Hart is a multi-award-winning author writing dystopian fantasy and sci-fi mystery adventure books for fearless readers aged 12 and up. Sail the Endless Blue with Erin and Number Twelve, uncover the power of music, magic, and memory with Sadie and Oliver, and follow Harper Hale as she becomes the first Earthling to enrol at the most dangerous magic school in the galaxy!

Every adventure starts with a single step… Shall we begin?