About the author

OK, in real life I'm Steve, pictured left showing some otters to my eldest daughter. Born in 1960 and bred in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, which delights in possessing a romantic ruin of a castle that was once the favourite residence of the Black Prince.

I've been an ardent role-player since the age of 17; my long standing Runequest campaign has refused to die in Liverpool even though I now live in Stoke-on-Trent and there's even a website for it. I understand it still runs on Thursdays with others in the GM's seat and I even get to play once or twice a year. My favourite character is Dominic Newman, a world-weary Thanatari scrivener working in the Duke of Moonguard's bureaucracy. If you think he's weird, you should see some of the others. J

I got into role-playing from figure wargaming and the latter is what got me interested in Medieval History, via heraldry.

Kingmaker is one of my favourite boardgames but left me with a profound feeling that I could do it better, so I immediately set to work and, sure enough, 12 years later, it became a reality. Rosewar ran for over seven years and 27 turns but eventually succumbed to the demands of a full-time job and a family…

…speaking of which: Rosewar happened because my wife, Claire (right, with Rhiannon), introduced me to computers and the internet. She took the above picture of me in Chester Zoo.

Claire's written-up her PhD thesis on kidney-stone formation and is now working in the field of evidence-based medicine at Keele University.

On July 18^th 2003 we gained a beautiful baby daughter, Rhiannon. She was only 5lb 5oz at birth but she's grown rapidly and was walking at 11 months. Now 3½, her devastating beauty is matched only by her character.

Then on July 3^rd 2006, Caitlin weighed in at 7lb 11½oz and has developed in to a charming baby, full of smiles; her big sister an unending source of merriment.

A one-eyed, ginger ex-tom called Jake makes up our happy family.

I studied Marine Biology at Liverpool University, rather poorly, and then embarked upon a career as a layabout until discovering the delights of splicing several part-time jobs together.

Alas, having been made redundant from Aynsley China in the wake of 9-11, I now work in the local Royal Mail Redirections centre in Stoke-on-Trent. The pay's a fair bit better but the job is dreadfully boring. On the other hand, the 4-day week is priceless and there are quite a few perks to working for Royal Mail.

My desire is to move to the Lake District or Scotland grows yearly; if you know of any jobs going for tour-guides or customer services people up there, I'm desperate to know.

And I really think that's quite enough. If you want to drop me a line, mail sheldon.stevens@virgin.net.