From About the Author in the back of the book Ghost Ship:
Bohemian womaniser, revolutionary spirit and general all-round sleazeball, Keith Topping is a journalist and author of over twenty books including two editions of The Guinness Book of Classic British TV, numerous guides to TV series as diverse as The X-Files, Star Trek, The Avengers and Roswell for Virgin Books, four BBC Doctor Who novels (including the award-winning The Hollow Men) and the best-selling Slayer: An Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Inside Bartlet's White House. He has written for many TV and genre magazines including Starburst and Shivers and is a former Contributing Editor of Dream Watch, specialising in coverage of US series such as Buffy, Angel, Stargate SG-1 and The West Wing.
Keith was born on sunny Tyneside on the same day in 1963 that his beloved Newcastle United lost 3-2 at home to Northampton Town. Things have improved a bit since then. He began his journalistic career whilst he was still working for the civil service (he has since escaped), writing for music, TV and football fanzines. He regularly appears on local radio and also contributed to the BBC television series I Love the 70s. He is currently co-scripting, with Martin Day, a proposed TV series for an independent production company. His hobbies include socialising with friends, foreign travel, very loud pop music, trashy British horror movies, current affairs and military history. His autobiography, I've Had Her, will be published posthumously.