Raised in rural Somerset, Novelist and Travel Writer Luke Waterson developed a penchant for travelling at an early age and, following completion of an English Literature and Creative Writing degree at the University of East Anglia, duly set forth to travel the world. He has developed a particular passion for the Americas (he's travelled across the lot of them extensively - north, central and south) and for Eastern Europe (he's lived in Slovakia for four years) but has never lost his love for getting lost within the rolling, damp green British countryside on a hike ideally incorporating a country pub or three. He lives, perhaps appropriately, in lonely Mid Wales.

Luke's first novel, "Roebuck - Tales of an Admirable Adventurer" - a swashbuckling adventure set amidst the Amazon rain-forest of the 16th century - was published in December 2015. His second novel, "Song Castle" - following the traumatic travels of a group of bards undertaking the dangerous journey to perform at a festival of song in 12th century Wales - was published in April 2018. He also writes for Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, the Telegraph, the Independent, BBC Travel, Adventure.com, National Geographic and a clutch of in-flight magazines including N by Norwegian and Morning Calm by Korean Air.

An American professional writer based in Europe, Chris Deliso has authored and c0-authored many books in travel, history, culture and current events, mostly on Southeast Europe since 2002. Get his latest essays on travel and history, as well as short fiction works, by signing up for his Substack newsletter, the Traveller's Literary Supplicant (https://christopherdeliso.substack.com). And, for a full list of past articles and books visit his official website (www.christopherdeliso.com). Chris is currently working on a collection of detective fiction set in contemporary Greece, Turkey and the Balkans- a new literary adventure that draws on his rich past experience in academia, journalism, travel writing, political risk consulting and public speaking on current events.

Chris Deliso holds an MPhil with Honours in Byzantine Studies (Oxford University, 1999). He is the co-author of over 20 Lonely Planet travel guides, and also served as Macedonia country analyst for 13 years for the Economist Intelligence Unit, while also writing geopolitical analysis on two separate occasions for the Jane's group. He has contributed widely to major global media, ranging from major airline magazines to BBC Travel, CNN Travel, History Today Magazine, National Geographic Traveller UK and many newspapers and websites. He has published scholarly book reviews in journals like the US Naval War College Review, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, the Royal United Services Institute's RUSI Journal, Bulletin of British Byzantine Studies and more.

Chris Deliso's wide range of interests also include Irish literature (and particularly, the study of works by Flann O'Brien/Brian O'Nolan), swimming, poetry and music.

Mark Beales is an award-winning, best-selling author.

After receiving a scholarship to study journalism, Mark worked as a reporter in England for 13 years.

In 2004 Mark moved to Thailand, where he began a new career in teaching. Mark has dragged his backpack to more than 40 countries, writing for Lonely Planet, Insight Guides and others. His work has also been published by CNN, The Guardian and The Bangkok Post. He is currently Principal of an international school in Japan.

For more, visit www.markbeales.com

Karyn Noble is an award-winning freelance journalist, specialising in gourmet food, drink, health and luxury travel. She is also an international food judge and restaurant reviewer.

Karyn worked in-house as a senior editor for travel publisher Lonely Planet for more than eight years and contributed to several of their titles: Spicy Food, You Only Live Once, World's Best Brunches, World's Best Drinks, Ultimate Travelist, Big Book of Free, Food Trails, The World's Best Superfoods, Secret Marvels of the World, Culture Trails, Global Coffee Tour, Amazing Train Journeys, Best in Travel 2019, Wellness Escapes, Around the World in 80 Food Trucks, Global Distillery Tour, Three Hours From, Amazing Boat Journeys, Global Chocolate Tour, as well as writing articles for the Lonely Planet website and Lonely Planet Food brand. Prior to this she was a finance journalist and television scriptwriter. She can write you an amusing script about how poorly she handles her own finances.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Paul Bloomfield is a writer specialising in travel, wildlife and history. He has contibuted to numerous books about travel, hiking, cycling and the natural world, and focuses on treks in the UK and across the world.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

The road has had her hooks in me as long as I can remember.

I was a teenage bike messenger, dodging cars and pedestrians with fanatical diligence through the stone and steel canyons of Manhattan. By eighteen I'd had my fill, and headed upstate to complete my formal education, graduating four years later with a degree in creative writing and a powerful desire to see the world through different eyes. I moved around North America for a couple of years before deciding to hit the road for real.

In the early nineties, moving to Japan to chase the mighty Yen was fashionable among recent college grads. I chose Taiwan instead, largely based on the suggestion of a lady who ran a restaurant I liked. After a few dips into various vocations -- including teaching kindergarten (tales from which wound up in my first book "Vignettes of Taiwan") and busting sweatshops in China (which formed the basis of my first major magazine article, confessions of a sweatshop inspector) -- I began writing full time.

I headed to China to accept a gig, sight unseen, at Beijing Scene magazine. After this I worked as a nomadic stringer for a variety of publications in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, and a couple of papers and websites in Colorado and California. I also contributed regularly to Things Asian Website and literary journals like Dim Sum and Cherry Bleeds.

In 2005, Things Asian Press published my first book of short stories, "Vignettes of Taiwan", which I promptly thrust into the hands of Lonely Planet co-founder Tony Wheeler at a Hong Kong book fair, asking him for a job doing the next Taiwan guide. A few weeks later I got an email from his office offering me my first Lonely Planet gig.

I was, as they say, off to the races.

For the next seven years I traveled and wrote for Lonely Planet, authoring and co-authoring guides for the company on Taiwan, Singapore, Belize, Malaysia & China's Yunnan province, leading the nomadic-obsessive logistic junkie's dream life, earning my way around the world reporting from exotic locales and connecting the dots from A to Z.

The stories in "How Not To Avoid Jet Lag & other tales of travel madness" come from these years on the road.

The road can be a bitch mistress, and lonely at times. In 2013, after three months in Belize working on two different guides, I made the decision to settle down for a couple of years. Outside of a few dozen short articles for Lonely Planet and several others for Bicycle Times magazine, I've largely remained true to the logo on top of my blog Snarky Tofu and lived the life of a "Recovering Travel Writer."

When not writing, I work as a tour guide in Portland, showing visitors around my adopted city.

Once Jet Lag is properly launched, the next project will be the novelization of a Buddhist Comedy screenplay two years ago. It's called Spinning Karma, and will no doubt cause me trouble.

Of course, there's always the road, which has never stopped calling me.