In 2006 David Ditchfield was dragged under a speeding train in a freak accident. As the surgeons fought to save him, he had a profound near-death experience (NDE). When he woke up in hospital, he had acquired astonishing new abilities. He found he could paint dramatic paintings of what he had seen in the Afterlife, far beyond any artistic ability he had before. He then discovered he could compose classical music, having never received any training. To this day, he cannot read or write a single note of musical notation, and yet his debut NDE-inspired symphony, The Divine Light, was premiered at a sell-out orchestral concert to a standing ovation.

He lives, paints and composes in a converted riverside mill near Cambridge, UK. J S Jones gained her PhD from the University of Stirling and has since authored a number of scientific journal articles. She has been friends with David Ditchfield for many years and witnessed the events in his remarkable story first-hand. Impressed by what she saw, she undertook creative writing courses so that she could co-author Shine On and do his story justice, because she believes it is a remarkable story that deserves to be told. She is now working on a debut fiction novel. She lives in Fife, Scotland.