Jess French is a zoologist, naturalist and entomologist and presents CBeebies Minibeast Adventure with Jess. Her passion for scorpions and tarantulas began while helping her dad with his exotic invertebrate-breeding business and often acted as animal handler when he supplied them for TV shows.

Jess Robinson came from a musical family and trained as a classical singer. She explains how she got waylaid by impressions and vocal gymnastics, and ran away to join the circus. She has since performed at the Edinburgh Festival and reached the semi-final of Britain's Got Talent.

Spencer Conway, English teacher, decided at forty-two to abandon The Canterbury Tales and make his own epic pilgrimage to Africa, which he circumnavigated on a motorbike. He has done the same in South America, a journey from which he's just returned. He talks about crashing in the salt flats in Bolivia and being stung by a killer wasp.

Joanna Trollope chooses her Inheritance Tracks La Mer by Charles Trenet and Mythical Kings and Iguanas by Dory Previn.

Not That Kind of Love, by Clare & Greg Wise is published on 22 February.

Minibeasts with Jess French is published on 8 March.

Jess Robinson's tour Here Come The Girls starts in Glasgow on 1 March and culminates on 29 April in Birmingham.

Joanna Trollope's latest novel An Unsuitable Match is published on 22 February.