John Williams (6)

John Williams was born in Cardiff in 1961. He wrote a punk fanzine and played in bands before moving to London in '81 and becoming a journalist, writing for everyone from The Face to the Financial Times. John wrote his first book, an American crime fiction travelogue called 'Into The Badlands' (Paladin) in 1991. His next book, Bloody Valentine (HarperCollins), written around the Lynette White murder case in the Cardiff docks, came out in 1994. Following a subsequent libel action from the police, he turned to fiction. His first novel the London-set Faithless (Serpent’s Tail) came out in 1997. Shortly afterward he moved back to Cardiff, with his family, and has now written four novels set in his hometow. John has also published a number of non-fiction titles including his biographies of Black Power leader Michael X and Shirley Bassey.