Jasper Fforde

His two published books are The Eyre Affair[?] and Lost In A Good Book[?]; both of which star Thursday Next[?] and are set in a slightly different world to our own. A third, Well Of Lost Plots[?] is scheduled to be published in Summer 2003.

Mr Fforde's books are noted for the number of literary allusions, wordplay and the tightly scripted plot, and also the impossibility of deciding which genre they fit into. The simple answer is that they don't.

Mr Fforde should also be noted for his use of the internet to add a different level to the books at http://www.thursdaynext.com/index2 and talks directly to his fans through comments on the Fforum, which has attracted a small community producing parodies and nonsense roughly connected to the 'Nextian Universe'.

Another way to engage readers has been through the insertion of rogue postcards into copies of the books which now sell for not inconsiderable sums, as well as guerilla signings of his books - which often confuse purchasers.