Jane Wilson-Howarth is a physician with qualifications in zoology and parasite biology, who loves animals, wild places, and cycling. She lived in Nepal for six years and speaks Nepali - but not very well. My passion for wildlife began early. I used to smuggle roadkill into the house despite my mother's preference for flowers. A fascination with nature started with pond-dipping; while other girls were experimenting with makeup and exploring the impact on the boys of rolling up the waistbands of their skirts to show more leg, I was nerdily nose-down in our garden pond, learning about reproductive behaviour in minuscule cyclops and water-fleas. This interest grew and blossomed through fossil collecting and hamster breeding. In between times I swam a great deal and learned to sail. My ecological passion persisted and I signed up to study zoology in Plymouth. This was a perfect place for me because of the proximity of the sea, various rivers and Dartmoor. I learned to SCUBA dive there and even did some sub-aquatic ecological surveys. I indulged in all possible water sports, including white-water canoeing and cave diving. One summer while still an undergraduate, I joined a big ecological team cataloguing the flora and fauna of Shetland; I 'did' the invertebrates. After graduating, I organised an overland trip to Nepal. That first expedition provided my first astonishing glimpses of sub-tropical wildlife which made me enthusiastic about sharing the wonders of the natural world with others. Some authors have always known they would write, but that desire has rather crept up on me. My dyslexia made me reticent. I was a late starter and it was a long time before I developed the confidence to write for people outside my circle of family and friends. Travel gave me a particular loathing of leeches and parasites, as well as an indignation about inequality of access to health care. Ultimately this pushed me towards becoming medically qualified. My blundering language forays have made me privy to a wealth of fascinating cultural material some of which appears in my writing particularly on Nepal. Himalayan Kidnap is my seventh book and the third to be set in Nepal. For the moment I live in East Anglia and work as a general practitioner for about 30-hours a week, which is considered half-time. I have plans to return to work in Nepal soon. Betty Levene studied Fine Art at Falmouth School of Art, Cornwall, after a childhood spent in London, where she bunked off a fair bit of school in favour of wildlife watching. As an environmental campaigner, she has learned lots about the natural world and basic zoology and has undertaken wildlife and other illustration work for Jane Wilson-Howarth's Bradt & Cadogan travel guidebooks, Sussex and Cornwall Wildlife Trusts, the United Nations Association, among others, as well as for children's story illustrations. She currently lives in Cornwall where she has been supporting Bio Science university students in their studies and learned some more about animal physiognomy, teaching organic gardening, and creating traditional wooden board games.
"Stunning descriptions of the flora and fauna of Nepal are subtly woven into this fast-moving story of two brothers on the trail of their kidnapped parents." Rosemary Hayes, Author of over 40 children's books "A gripping and fast-paced adventure written by a biologist and traveller about luck, courage, and ultimately heroism. The exotic and sometimes dangerous Himalayan landscape is given to the reader with a total and vivid authenticity." Victor Watson, Author (incl. Paradise Barn series)
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