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Deirdre Counihan was born at the ancestral home of the gunpowder plotter Guy Fawkes, Farnley Hall in Yorkshire. Both her parents were professional writers, as was her grandfather. From their earliest years the family (8 children in all) were expected to help with such things as reviewing children’s books for the Times Literary Supplement, including C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books.

Deirdre trained as a book illustrator and also has an M.A. in Gender Studies. She has had a busy art career specialising in archaeology (including the important Arthurian dig at Cadbury, Somerset) and fantasy (a highlight being the production of the personal working maps for Jane Gaskell’s Atlan books). Deirdre has also taught Art and Art History to students from all over the world.

Deirdre has always continued to work as a writer and editor, for instance of ‘The Mervyn Peake Review‘, dedicated to the artist/writer of the Gormenghast Books. For the last decade, with her sister Elizabeth, Deirdre has run ‘Scheherazade‘, the magazine of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Gothic Romance. For The Millenium, again with her sister Elizabeth and also with writer Liz Williams (‘The Poison Master’), Deirdre co-edited ‘Fabulous Brighton’ a collection of fantastic short stories about their home town.

Deirdre’s most recent published fiction appeared in ‘The Mammoth Book of Historical Crime Fiction‘ edited by Mike Ashley (Little, Brown Book Group, 2011).

However, Deirdre’s own writing most often reflects her fascination with the ancient cultures of The Silk Road. Deirdre has travelled extensively in this area, starting with a visit to the Altai Mountains of Siberia (on the Mongolian border) where she encountered the archaeology and shamanism of the region at first hand. She has subsequently gone on to visit Uzbekistan (including Samarkand), treading in the footsteps of Alexander the Great. In 2005, with intrepid companions, her sister Elizabeth and fellow writers Liz Williams and Cherith Baldry, she completed the most Eastern part of The Silk Road from Kashgar right through to Beijing, traversing the dreaded Taklamakan Desert. Her first novel, ‘The Panther‘ is placed in such a setting.

Deirdre has been married twice, firstly to an archaeologist and now to a Guardian and Independent sports journalist. She has two sons from her first marriage and two cats from her second. She lives in Brighton U.K.