James Styring lives in Charlbury in the Cotswolds (UK), and he has worked in English language teaching for 35 years. James started his ELT career as an English teacher in Spain. He then worked as an ELT editor for Oxford University Press, before becoming a freelance author in 2005. He has written over 100 English language teaching books, mainly coursebooks for secondary school students, including On Track for Spain (ESO) and Metro for schools in Latin America.

The best part of his job is writing stories for coursebooks, and readers for students who want to have fun while improving their English. The most fun he’s ever had in his job was writing a collection of interactive choose-your-own-adventure stories, for which he and his co-author won an international award. It’s no surprise that he jumped at the chance to write The Talisman.

When James isn’t writing, he teaches English and Spanish part-time. He loves reading, music, cycling, tennis, his family and his dog, and these themes often appear in his stories.