James Robertson was born in Scotland in 1958. He is the author of The Testament of Gideon Mack and And the Land Lay Still, among other novels, and has won the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award twice. The Testament of Gideon Mack was longlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize.

Robertson is also the author of four short-story collections, most recently 365: Stories, as well as poetry collections and children's books in both English and Scots.

He runs the independent publishing house Kettillonia and also co-founded the Scots language children's books imprint Itchy Coo.

Jill Calder has been working as an illustrator since 1993, blending traditional and digital image-making methods as seamlessly as possible to create her award-winning illustrations and lettering.

Besides Walker, and among many others, her clients include the Guardian, The New Yorker, the British Museum, Penguin Random House and Kellogg's. She lives in the beautiful fishing village of Cellardyke, Scotland.