Manda Scott.... qualified as a veterinary surgeon from Glasgow University and spent fifteen years in East Anglia working variously as a surgeon, equine neonatologist and anaesthetist before she turned to writing as an alternative, less sleep-deprived profession.

In the beginning, she wrote contemporary crime thrillers. The first, 'Hen's Teeth' (The Women's Press) was short listed for the Orange prize, the third, Stronger than Death (Headline) was awarded an Arts Council of England prize for Literature and her fourth, No Good Deed, was nominated in the 'Best Novel' category of the prestigious Edgar Awards in 2003.

In 2000, Inca, the elder lurcher, killed a lactating hare and the vision quest that grew out of that led to what is now the 'Boudica' series; four novels exploring the life and times of Boudica, the war-leader of the Eceni who lead the revolt against Rome in 61 AD.

Her new thriller - THE CRYSTAL SKULL, was published by Transworld in hardback in the UK on 1st January 2008.  It will be released in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Poland, Holland, France, Spain and Latin America later in the year.

From the back cover:

                                   21.12.12

                               The date is set,

                       Time is running out

Ancient Wisdom predicts the end of the world with uncanny precision.

But it also provides the key to staving off apocalypse: a flawless sapphire of incomparable beauty carved into the perfect likeness of a human skull.

This is a fast-paced thriller, weaving contemporary and Elizabethan threads. It explores the Mayan prophecy, given in the Dresden Codex, that the end of the fifth age  (ours) will take place on 21st December 2012.  To give us hope, the Maya carved 13 skulls and sent them around the world. Only when all thirteen are joined together can the Ouroborous, the world snake, Kukulkan, also known as Quetzlcoatl, arise to save the world from oblivion.

A web site dedicated to the new novel can be found at: The Crystal Skull

 

When not writing Manda is a rock-climber, horse rider and apprentice dreamer. She lives in Shropshire with her partner and Inca, the lurcher who began the Boudica series.