John Guy Collick was born in Yorkshire, England. When he was 10 years old his grandfather gave him a copy of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and from then on he was hooked on science fiction and fantasy. He worked for Scotland Yard before moving to Japan for ten years to lecture in literature and philosophy, teaching courses on Science Fiction and Futurology. Ragged Claws is his second novel. As well as writing SF he is the author of a book on Shakespeare, essays on literature and several screenplays.