S(tephen) M(artin) Guariento was educated at the Manchester Grammar School. After this he spent an instructive year in Leeds learning how not to be a dentist, before finally graduating from UMIST with a degree in Management Sciences. Since graduating he has been employed full-time in NHS Finance, where his affinity for the absurd finds a natural home. He spends his spare time obsessively re-reading the works of J.G.Ballard, collecting vintage film posters and listening to electronic music. He also enjoys bragging of his family connection with the 14th Century artist Guariento di Arpo, which scholars have yet to disprove. His first novel, INCARNADINE, was awarded the Quagga Prize Silver Medal for Fantasy in 2016. His non-fiction study of film tie-ins – LIGHT INTO INK: A CRITICAL SURVEY OF 50 FILM NOVELIZATIONS – was published by Ideogram Press in 2019 (“Packed with information and critical insight…this is a book I can recommend without hesitation” – Dr. Deborah Allison, Senses of Cinema). In 2024 Ideogram issued his second novel, WOLFTRAP.