MICHAEL WOODMAN

Michael was a thriller-writing sensation in his teens. His first book, featuring an iconic 70s anti-hero, was a spy story with cheeky footnotes, including the London street addresses of MI5 and MI6. As these were unlisted at the time, that caused quite a stir.

Those early titles ended up on bestseller shelves on both sides of the Atlantic, but their young author was oddly troubled. His hero went on dangerous missions to exotic locations, but Michael had never been anywhere or done anything. Like those secret addresses, it had all come from research or imagination, and he wanted a real life to enrich his writing like the authors who inspired him. So he quit writing imaginary adventures and took off looking for real ones.

Since then, Michael has traveled in over 50 countries and had extraordinary careers and adventures on four continents. He now lives in Spain with his wife, Elizabeth, and he's back writing thrillers, lighting them up with a world of experience.