Pari Thomson
Pari Thomson is Editorial Director for picture books at Bloomsbury Children’s Books. Half Persian, half English, she lived in many places while she was growing up, including India, Pakistan, the USA, the UK and Belgium. She studied at Oxford University and now lives near the river in London, not far from Kew Gardens.
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Kristen Perrin
Kristen Perrin is originally from Seattle, Washington, where she spent several years working as a bookseller before immigrating to the UK to do a Masters and PhD. Her debut murder mystery How to Solve Your Own Murder is the first book in the Castle Knoll Files series, and has been translated into more than twenty languages. The book was also a Good Morning America Buzzpick, was featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and has been a New York Times, Indiebound, USA Today, and Der Spiegel bestseller. She lives with her family in Surrey, England, where she is hard at work on more books in the series.
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Find her on Instagram: @kristenperrinwrites
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Maria Kuzniar
Maria Kuzniar (who is also published as M.A. Kuzniar) spent six years living in Spain, teaching English and travelling the world which inspired her children’s series The Ship of Shadows. Her adult debut novel Midnight in Everwood was inspired by her love of ballet and love of The Nutcracker. She lives in Nottingham with her husband, where she reads and writes as much as can and bookstagrams @cosyreads.
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Katya Balen
Katya Balen is a British author of children's literature. She was born in 1989, in London. Her novel October, October won the 2022 Carnegie Medal. Her work has also been nominated for the Branford Boase Award and the Wainwright Prize for Children's Writing on Nature and Conservation.
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S.F. Said
Said grew up in the Iraqi diasporic community in London, moving there with his mother at the age of two. After graduating from the University of Cambridge, he worked as a press attaché and speech writer for the Crown Prince of Jordan’s office in London. He began a Ph.D. in 1997 looking at the lives of young Muslims in Britain, but left academia to focus on film journalism for the Daily Telegraph – where he brought attention to much 'world cinema', including contemporary Islamic cinema – and writing for children
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Kereen Getten
Kereen Getten grew up in Jamaica where she would climb fruit trees in the family garden and eat as much mango, guinep and pear as she could without being caught. She now lives in Birmingham with her family and writes stories about her childhood experiences. When Life Gives You Mangos is her debut novel.
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Visit her on n Instagram @Kereengetten -
Elle McNicoll
Hey, I'm Elle. I'm Scottish, autistic and an author/screenwriter who is really bad at logging her reading choices.
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I write about autistic girls finding out who they are and what makes them happy, because I'm an autistic girl trying to find out who she is and what makes her happy.
I don't read reviews, as they are for readers, but I'm grateful to any and everyone who engages with my work, on the page or on the screen. My Young Adult Romance debut is called Some Like It Cold in it will be published on the 3rd of October. Official professional shiz below:
Elle McNicoll is a bestselling and award-winning novelist and screenwriter. Her debut, A Kind of Spark, won the Blue Peter Book Award and the Overall Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, as well -
Janice Hallett
Janice Hallett is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. She wrote articles and speeches for, among others, the Cabinet Office, Home Office, and Department for International Development. Her enthusiasm for travel has taken her around the world several times, from Madagascar to the Galapagos, Guatemala to Zimbabwe, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. A playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and cowrote the feature film Retreat. The Appeal is her first novel.
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Celia Krampien
Celia Krampien grew up in a house in the woods on the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada, and spent her childhood reading, observing the local wildlife, and climbing trees. She currently lives in Oakville , Ontario, with her partner, and enjoys working alongside her silly cat and going for long walks with her nosy beagle. Celia's illustrations have appeared in children's books, newspapers, and magazines.
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Janelle McCurdy
Janelle McCurdy is an author and fully-fledged gamer. Having started writing and querying at only sixteen years old, she joined Jo Unwin Literary Agency (JULA) in her early twenties. After graduating from Royal Holloway University with a Criminology and Sociology degree, Janelle moved back home to London and began writing middle grade fantasy. In her free time, you can find her holed up in her room, gaming and watching anime (some of her favorites being Inuyasha, Dragon Ball Z, and Death Note), or attending numerous comic cons and gaming events.
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Liz Flanagan
Liz writes for children and young adults. She teaches creative writing, and lives in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, with her husband and two daughters. She used to be Centre Director at the Ted Hughes Arvon Centre, and previously worked in children's book publishing.
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Natasha Hastings
Natasha Hastings is the bestselling author of fantasy books for adults and children. Her debut novel, The Frost Fair (the first in her magical-historical trilogy, The Miraculous Sweetmakers), was the Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month in November 2023, longlisted for the Branford Boase Award, Editor’s Choice in The Bookseller, and a Times Book of the Week. The second in the trilogy – The Sea Queen – was published in September 2024, and became a #1 Amazon bestseller.
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Her debut regency romantasy for adults, How To Charm A Viscount, will be released in May 2025 under the name Natasha J. Hastings. All of her books are published by HarperCollins. -
Hayley Hoskins
Long-listed for the Bath Children's Novel award, Hayley Hoskins writes in the space between family and work, with much support from her writing group.
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Mum to a teenage boy, she spends a disproportionate amount of time hoping that her son's life is far less complicated than those of the characters in her books, and trying to ensure he becomes a 'good egg'.
Originally from the Forest of Dean, Hayley lives with her family and hairy breeze-block of a dog in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Her debut children's novel, The Whisperling, was long-listed for the Branford Boase Award. The follow up, The Whisperling Twins, publishes in summer 2024. -
Liesl Shurtliff
Liesl Shurtliff is a New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of books for young readers. Her books include RUMP, JACK, RED, and GRUMP, all part of the (Fairly) True Tales series from Knopf/Random House, and the TIME CASTAWAYS trilogy from Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.
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Liesl was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, with the mountains for her playground. Before she became a writer, Liesl graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in music, dance, and theater. She now lives in Chicago with her husband and four children. Visit her online at www.lieslshurtliff.com and @lieslshurtliff everywhere. -
Jenny Pearson
Jenny Pearson is a technical writer and an artist who loves to write and draw. She enjoys working with kids, whether it's engaging them with arts and crafts activities, helping them learn basic concepts, or just inspiring cute moments. With loads of patience, sunny smiles, and a healthy dose of kindness, almost any day can be a great day.
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Aisling Fowler
Aisling was born in 1985 and wishes that she had grown up in a magical, mountainous kingdom, but was actually raised in Surrey on a diet of books and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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Her early ‘adventure’ stories involved surprisingly little action and her first novel (3 pages long) was politely declined by publishers at age 11.
After earning a BSc in Biology and working as a support worker and then a nurse, the idea for her debut novel, Fireborn, came to her as she moved back and forth between London and the US.
Now based in Hackney, when she is not reading or writing, Aisling loves cooking and plotting adventures (for herself as well as her fictional characters). Fireborn will be published by HarperCollins in 2021. -
Cornelia Funke
Cornelia Funke is a multiple award-winning German illustrator and storyteller, who writes fantasy for all ages of readers. Amongst her best known books is the Inkheart trilogy. Many of Cornelia's titles are published all over the world and translated into more than 30 languages. She has two children, two birds and a very old dog and lives in Los Angeles, California.
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Tim Green
Tim Green, for many years a star defensive end with the Atlanta Falcons, is a man of many talents. He's the author of such gripping books for adults as the New York Times bestselling The Dark Side of the Game and a dozen suspense novels, including Exact Revenge and Kingdom Come. Tim graduated covaledictorian from Syracuse University and was a first-round NFL draft pick. He later earned his law degree with honors. Tim has worked as an NFL analyst for FOX Sports and as an NFL commentator for National Public Radio, among other broadcast experience. He lives with his wife, Illyssa, and their five children in upstate New York. Football Genius is his first novel for young readers. For more updates, visit www.facebook.com/authortimgreen
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Celia Krampien
Celia Krampien grew up in a house in the woods on the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada, and spent her childhood reading, observing the local wildlife, and climbing trees. She currently lives in Oakville , Ontario, with her partner, and enjoys working alongside her silly cat and going for long walks with her nosy beagle. Celia's illustrations have appeared in children's books, newspapers, and magazines.
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Katherine Rundell
Katherine Rundell was born in 1987 and grew up in Africa and Europe. In 2008 she was elected a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. Her first book, The Girl Savage, was born of her love of Zimbabwe and her own childhood there; her second, Rooftoppers, was inspired by summers working in Paris and by night-time trespassing on the rooftops of All Souls. She is currently working on her doctorate alongside an adult novel.
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Source: Katherine Rundell -
Sangu Mandanna
Sangu Mandanna was four years old when an elephant chased her down a forest road and she decided to write her first story about it. Seventeen years and many, many manuscripts later, she signed her first book deal. Sangu now lives in Norwich, a city in the east of England, with her husband and kids.
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M.G. Leonard
M. G. Leonard is a writer of books, poems and screenplays. She has a first-class honours degree in English literature and an MA in Shakespeare Studies from Kings College London. She works as a freelance Digital Media Producer for clients such as the National Theatre, and Harry Potter West End, and previously worked as a Senior Digital Producer at the National Theatre, the Royal Opera House and Shakespeare’s Globe. She spent her early career in the music industry running Setanta Records, an independent record label, and managing bands, most notably The Divine Comedy. After leaving the music industry, she trained as an actor, dabbling in directing and producing as well as performing, before deciding to write her stories down. Maya lives in Br
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Amanda Foody
Amanda Foody is the New York Times, USA Today, and indie bestselling author of All of Us Villains (with C.L. Herman), the Wilderlore series, the Shadow Game series, and more. Her work has appeared in publications including Buzzfeed, Popsugar, Culturess, and Amazon selected All of Us Villains as the Best Young Adult Book of 2021. Originally from Pennsylvania, she lives in Boston, MA with her partner and their orange tabby, Jelly Bean. When not writing, she unironically loves to cook.
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The Night Compass, the fourth installment in the Wilderlore series, releases on March 5, 2024. A Fate So Cold, her next novel with C.L. Herman, follows in Fall 2024. -
Janice Hallett
Janice Hallett is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. She wrote articles and speeches for, among others, the Cabinet Office, Home Office, and Department for International Development. Her enthusiasm for travel has taken her around the world several times, from Madagascar to the Galapagos, Guatemala to Zimbabwe, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. A playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and cowrote the feature film Retreat. The Appeal is her first novel.
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Aisling Fowler
Aisling was born in 1985 and wishes that she had grown up in a magical, mountainous kingdom, but was actually raised in Surrey on a diet of books and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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Her early ‘adventure’ stories involved surprisingly little action and her first novel (3 pages long) was politely declined by publishers at age 11.
After earning a BSc in Biology and working as a support worker and then a nurse, the idea for her debut novel, Fireborn, came to her as she moved back and forth between London and the US.
Now based in Hackney, when she is not reading or writing, Aisling loves cooking and plotting adventures (for herself as well as her fictional characters). Fireborn will be published by HarperCollins in 2021. -
Philippa Leathley
Philippa Leathley grew up in East Yorkshire, spending summers near London with her eccentric grandparents and writing feverishly as soon as she could hold a pen. When not writing, she enjoys learning new languages, studying anything from historical fashion to shipwrecks, and is passionate about protecting the environment. She currently lives just outside Hull with her family and three weird and wonderful rescue cats, Bram, Lyra and Theo the Brave.
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Her debut children’s book, INKBOUND: METICULOUS JONES AND THE SKULL TATTOO, is due to be published by HarperCollins 30th January 2025 in the UK and 28th January in the US. She’s represented by Hannah Sheppard at HS-LA. -
Rhian Tracey
TRUE COLOURS is Rhian Tracey's fourth book for Bloomsbury, and the first for a younger readership. Rhian has a BA in English Literature from Aberystwyth University and a PGCE in English and Drama Teaching from Cheltenham and Gloucester University. She works as an English and Drama teacher in Brackley. She has written stories since she was five years old.
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Rupert Kingfisher
Rupert Kingfisher’s first book, Madame Pamplemousse and Her Incredible Edibles, was highly acclaimed. His favourite authors as a child were Roald Dahl, Susan Cooper and Ursula le Guin. He also loved American horror comics and French cartoon books such as Asterix and Tintin. It was on a family holiday to Paris that he visited a bookshop dedicated to books such as Tintin – and also ate anchovies for the first time, on a pizza from a street vendor. He says that both experiences were equally life-changing.
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Rupert studied Philosophy at Bristol University and Play Writing at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Rupert has had plays performed in Dublin, Edinburgh, London and on BBC Radio 4. He grew up in Oxfordshire and now lives in Brentford, M -
Karen Foxlee
Karen Foxlee is an Australian author who lives and writes in Queensland. Her young adult novels The Anatomy of Wings (UQP/Knopf/Atlantic) and The Midnight Dress (Knopf/UQP/Hot Key Books) have been published internationally to much acclaim. The Anatomy of Wings won the Commonwealth Writers Prize Best First Book 2008 (South Asia/Pacific), the Dobbie Award 2008, and a Parent’s Choice Gold Award in the U.S. The Midnight Dress was selected as an ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults title in 2014. Foxlee’s first middle grade novel Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy (Knopf / Hot Key Books) was published in January 2014 and to date has received several starred reviews.
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Karen Foxlee was born in Mount Isa, Queensland in 1971. She has worked most of her adult -
L.D. Lapinski
L. D. Lapinski is the best-selling author of JAMIE, Stepfather Christmas, and The Strangeworlds Travel Agency series, including Adventure in the Floating Mountains, which was a 2023 World Book Day title. JAMIE was nominated for the 2024 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing.
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L. D's new middle-grade fantasy series ARTEZANS launches in February 2024 with the first book Artezans: The Forgotten Magic.
L. D.'s books are published around the world in fifteen languages, and each book in the Strangeworlds trilogy has been awarded a Kirkus star - one of the most coveted designations in the book industry,
marking books of exceptional merit.
L. D. Lapinski lives just outside Sherwood Forest with their family, a lot of books, and a cat called Hector. L. D. first -
Paul O'Grady
Paul James Michael O'Grady MBE (born 14 June 1955) was an English comedian, television presenter, actor, writer and radio DJ. He was best known for presenting the daytime chat television series, The Paul O'Grady Show and, more recently, Paul O'Grady Live, as well as his drag queen comedic alter ego, Lily Savage, as whom he performed in various television series including Blankety Blank (1997–1999) and Lily Live! (2000–2001). He also appeared in the comedy sitcom Eyes Down (2003–2004) and presented several travel documentaries.
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Born to a working class Irish migrant family in Birkenhead, O'Grady went through various jobs in his youth, including working in various bars, for the civil service and for social services, moving around the country to -
Cressida Cowell
Cressida Cowell grew up in London and on a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland. She was convinced that there were dragons living on this island, and has been fascinated by dragons ever since. She has a BA in English Literature from Oxford University, a BA in Graphic Design from St Martin's and an MA in Narrative Illustration from Brighton. Cressida loves illustrating her own work, but also loves writing books for other people to illustrate as the end result can be so unexpected and inspiring. Cressida has written and illustrated eight books in the popular Hiccup series. The unique blend of child centred humour and sublime prose made Hiccup an instant hit. How to Train Your Dragon is now published in over 30 languages. A
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Jamie Littler
Jamie is an author-illustrator who graduated from the Arts Institute at Bournemouth in 2008, going on to win a High Commendation in the Macmillan Children's Book Award. When not trying to tame his unnaturally fast growing hair or having staring matches with next door's cat, he likes drawing, colouring in, cutting things out and sticking things in. He sometimes uses a scanner and a computer, and too often is tempted to throw his printer out of the window. But he would just have to go and pick it up again. His interests are pretty wide and varied -- although he does have a soft spot for wild animals and things that go bump in the night. Jamie's illustration work includes Hamish and the Worldstoppers which was the bestselling children's debut
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S.A. Patrick
S.A. Patrick was born in Northern Ireland. An Oxford mathematics graduate, he spent thirteen years working as a games programmer on the award-winning Total War series before becoming a full-time author. He lives in Cornwall with his wife and two young children. He is the author of A Darkness of Dragons, and (as Seth Patrick) the horror-thriller Reviver trilogy.
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Jenny McLachlan
I have always loved reading and I studied English at university just so that I could read a bit more. Next I found my way into secondary teaching and discovered that I loved it too: I got to read more books, show off and hang out with very funny teenagers. What a great job!
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Teaching English also encouraged me to write. Soon I had planned and started lots of different stories, but they were all abandoned and shoved to the back of a drawer. Then, one day, the plot for Flirty Dancing came together; Bea’s story was so alive it was like a film running in my head and I knew it was a story I would finish.
Over the next few years, various exciting events distracted me from Flirty Dancing: I got married, travelled the world, was chased by an angry ele -
Mel Taylor-Bessent
Founder of the hugely successful Authorfy and Little Star Writing, Mel Taylor-Bessent has made her career connecting readers to their favourite authors and encouraging children to write for pleasure. After gaining a Creative Writing degree, Mel launched her first business at the age of 22 and ran creative writing workshops for thousands of children aged 6-12. As a result, she also arranged hundreds of author events and witnessed first-hand the positive impact these interactions had on her students.
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In 2017, she decided to replicate this via online ‘Author Masterclasses’ on a website she created called Authorfy.com. Since then, Authorfy has gone on to win numerous awards, partner with the likes of World Book Day and BookTrust, and is used in -
Julie Abe
Julie Abe is the author of the EVA EVERGREEN, SEMI-MAGICAL WITCH middle grade fantasy series; the middle grade fantasy ALLIANA, GIRL OF DRAGONS; and the young adult novel THE CHARMED LIST. She has lived in Silicon Valley, spent many humid summers in Japan, and currently basks in the sunshine of Southern California with never enough books or tea, where she creates stories about magical adventures.
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Jennifer Bell
Londoner Jennifer Bell began working in children’s books as a specialist bookseller at Foyles, Charing Cross Road, one of the world’s most famous bookstores. After having the privilege of listening to children talk about their favorite books for many years, she started writing a book of her own on her lunch breaks.
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For other authors with the same name, see Jennifer^^Bell. -
David Farr
David Farr is is one of the UK's leading screenwriters and directors for film, TV and theatre. In 2009, he was appointed Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, where his productions of The Winter's Tale, King Lear and The Homecoming all opened to critical acclaim. David is known for his work on Spooks and his 2016 BBC adaptation of The Night Manager, starring Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston. He completed his first feature film, Hanna, in 2009, and has since adapted it into a hugely successful series for Amazon Prime. The Book of Stolen Dreams is his first novel.
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Ross Montgomery
Ross Montgomery has worked as a pig farmer, a postman and a primary school teacher, so writing books was the next logical step. He spent his childhood reading everything he could get his hands on, from Jacqueline Wilson to Beano annuals, and it taught him pretty much everything that's worth knowing. If you looked through his pockets you'd find empty crisp packets, lists of things to do, and a bottle of that stuff you put on your nails to stop you biting them. He lives in London with his girlfriend, a cat called Fun Bobby, and a cactus on every available surface.
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David Owen
David resents the fact that he was not raised by wolves and was therefore robbed of a good story to tell at parties. He turned to fiction to compensate for his unremarkable existence.
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He achieved 1st class honours in BA Creative Writing and MA Writing for Children at The University of Winchester, where he went on to teach on the BA Creative Writing course for three years. He hopes that one day all of his students will surpass his own achievements.
David’s debut YA novel, Panther, will be published by Constable & Robinson on their Corsair imprint in May 2015. Panther is a funny, touching, and occasionally unsettling coming-of-age story, which deals candidly with the stigmas and misunderstandings surrounding depression.
David has also worked as -
Alexandra Overy
Alexandra grew up in London and moved to Los Angeles to pursue her undergraduate degree in history at UCLA, followed by her MFA in screenwriting also at UCLA. She loves writing in all formats, from novels to screenplays to graphic novels, always centring on fierce women and morally grey characters, often with a bit of magic and murder. She is the author of the These Feathered Flames duology and the middle grade fantasy duology The Gingerbread Witch.
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When she’s not writing, she can be found baking, fangirling over her favourite books, or cuddling her foster kittens. -
Shivaun Plozza
Shivaun Plozza is an award-winning author of books for children and young adults. Her debut novel, Frankie, was a CBCA Notable Book and won a number of awards, including the Davitt Awards and a commendation from the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award. Her second novel, Tin Heart, sold in three foreign territories, received two starred reviews, and was nominated to ALA’S Best Fiction for Young Adults list. Her debut middle-grade novel, The Boy, the Wolf, and the Stars, is forthcoming in 2020 from HMH Books for Young Readers and Penguin Random House Australia. She is a frequent contributor to anthologies, and when she is not writing she works as an editor and manuscript assessor.
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James Nicol
I always knew I wanted to write the kind of fantasy novel I had escaped into as a child, somewhere that felt safe and filled with characters that did brave things and had lots of fun at the same time. But I wanted the magic in my book to be part of the world, not a secret, and I wanted to see what happened after a witch was trained and was sent out into the world to work. When I was thinking about all this, one day I got a really clear image of a scene for the book – I wrote it all down as quickly as I could and then thought, now what happens next ...
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James Nicol has loved books and stories his whole life. As a child he spent hours absorbed in novels, watching epic 1980s cartoons or adventuring in the wood at the bottom of the garden searchi -
Lizzie Huxley-Jones
Hello! Thanks for joining me in the 5 star recs zone. Please feel free to follow - I don't tend to add people back as I don't actually use Goodreads myself any more. I just come back here to pop down the recommendations that I post on Twitter and Instagram where I'm @littlehux so you're better off finding me there as I really don't use Goodreads much at all any more.
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Official Bit:
Lizzie Huxley-Jones (they/them) is an autistic author and editor based in London. They are the author of the queer holiday rom-com Make You Mine This Christmas (2022) from Hodder Books, the summer romance Hits Different co-written with Tasha Ghouri (2024) from Hot Key Books, and Vivi Conway and the Sword of Legend (2023) from Knights Of. They write joyful stories th -
Alexander Armstrong
An English actor, television and radio presenter, and singer, best known as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller and as host of the BBC TV game show Pointless.
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Kim Bussing
Kim Bussing is an award-winning author of fairy tales for adults and children. Books in her middle-grade series, THE PRINCESS SWAP, have been selected as Amazon Editor's Picks, featured as both Barnes & Noble and Publisher's Weekly New & Notable picks, and have been included on the Kids Indie Next List by the American Booksellers Association.
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When she's not writing, you can find her at a bookstore (unsurprisingly), attempting to bake macarons, or listening to Broadway soundtracks.
You can find her online at her website or on Instagram. -
Mel Darbon
Mel Darbon spent a large part of her childhood inventing stories to keep her autistic brother happy on car journeys. She won’t mention the time spent with him standing by level crossings waiting for the InterCity 125 to go past as she wouldn’t want to be labelled a train spotter.
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Life took her in many different directions working as a theatre designer, a freelance artist, teaching young adults with learning disabilities and running creative workshops for teenage mums, young offenders and toddlers (though not all together).
Mel now writes young adult novels and is a recent graduate of Bath Spa’s MA in Writing For Young People, where she found a channel to give voice to young people who otherwise might not be heard. -
Lee Edward Födi
Lee Edward Födi is a children's author, illustrator, and educator—or, as he likes to think of himself, a daydreaming specialist.
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He is the author of several books for children including Spell Sweeper, The Secret of Zoone, The Guardians of Zoone (HarperCollins Children's Books), and the The Chronicles of Kendra Kandlestar (Simply Read Books).
He has also illustrated several picture books for other authors, including The Chocolatier's Apprentice (a national bestseller) and I'll Follow the Moon.
He is a co-founder of the Creative Writing for Children Society (CWC), a not-for-profit program that helps kids write their own books. He has the joy of leading workshops for kids in Canada, the US, Korea, China, Thailand, and other places here and there -
Meg Grehan
Meg Grehan is a young writer hiding away in Donegal in the northwest of Ireland, with a very ginger girlfriend, an even more ginger dog and an undisclosed number of cats (none of whom is ginger).
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Her first book The Space Between won the Eilis Dillon Award at the 2017 Children’s Books Ireland Awards. The Deepest Breath won the Judges Special Award at the 2020 KPMG Children's Books Ireland Awards. It was also shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Award 2020. -
Rena Barron
Rena Barron grew up in small-town Alabama where stories of magic and adventure sparked her imagination. After penning her first awful poem in middle school, she graduated to writing short stories and novels by high school. Rena loves all things science fiction, ghosts, and superheroes. She’s a self-proclaimed space nerd. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading or brushing up on her French.
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Rena is the author of the YA fantasy series, KINGDOM OF SOULS and the contemporary fantasy middle grade series, MAYA AND THE RISING DARK.
Check out the World Map and World Guide for KINGDOM OF SOULS at http://kingdomofsoulsbook.com/
Check out the activity guide for MAYA AND THE RISING DARK at http://renabarron.com/maya-and-the-ri...
Rena prefers not -
Samantha San Miguel
Samantha San Miguel grew up on the Treasure Coast of Florida. Living sandwiched between ocean and estuary gave her a wholehearted respect for wildlife, especially the kind that can eat you. She's spent countless hours scanning for sea monsters, but the only ones she's seen so far have been in her imagination. Samantha dreams of one day seeing with her own eyes the landscapes from her abuelito's stories of Cuba.
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Jennifer Claessen
Jennifer was born in Reading and grew up a book worm. She studied literature and theatre at the University of Sheffield, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Canterbury Christchurch University and Central School of Speech and Drama. A teacher and theatre-maker, Jennifer loves stories, especially for children, whether on stage or page. Jennifer currently works in the West End, taking children to the theatre and lives in the East End with her partner, a Dutch toymaker, and their baby daughter. She loves reading, travel and ice cream. You can find her on her yellow bike or in a red velvet seat in the stalls, applauding.
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Deke Moulton
DEKE MOULTON is a writer currently living in the US Pacific Northwest. They are a former US Army drill sergeant and trained as an Arabic linguist during their time in service. Don't Want to Be Your Monster, their debut book, is a 2024 Sydney Taylor Book Award Honor Book and a Kirkus Reviews' Best Middle Grade Books of 2023.
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They are represented by Rena Rossner. -
Jodie Garnish
Jodie Garnish is a performer, playwright and author. She studied at the University of East Anglia and trained in acting at Drama Studio London.
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Throughout her theatre career she has performed across the UK and Italy. She has played monachs, mathmaticians and murderesses, and worn more terrible wigs than she cares to remember. Her experiences as a performer inspired the world of the Spectaculars, her debut novel. -
Homer Hickam
Homer Hickam (also known as Homer H. Hickam, Jr.) is the author of many best-sellers including his latest, Don't Blow Yourself Up. An eclectic writer, he wrote the "Coalwood Series," which includes the # 1 New York Times best-selling memoir Rocket Boys, (made into the ever-popular movie October Sky) the World War II-era "Josh Thurlow" series, the juvenile sci-fi "Crater" series, the adult thriller The Dinosaur Hunter, the romantic Red Helmet, and many others. Among his many writing awards are the University of Alabama's Clarence Cason Award and the Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award plus an honorary Doctorate of Literature from Marshall University. For more information on Mr. Hickam and his books and cats and everything else, please go to
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Jasbinder Bilan
According to family stories, Jasbinder was born in a stable in the foothills of the Himalayas. Until she was a year and a half, she lived on a farm inhabited by a grumpy camel and a monkey called Oma.
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Jasbinder graduated from Bath Spa University where the seeds of her story were nurtured, but it was the incredible bond with her grandmother which was the inspiration for Asha & the Spirit Bird.
She lives with her husband, two teenage boys and dog Enzo in a man pad and splits her time between teaching and writing. -
Piu DasGupta
Piu DasGupta is the author of dark, twisty, Gothic books of fiction for children, teens, and adults.
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Her debut Middle Grade novel, SECRETS OF THE SNAKESTONE, is released on 14th March 2024 with Nosy Crow.
Piu lives in Paris, France, with her family and two cats. -
Emily Whitman
In Emily Whitman’s novels for kids and teens, myth and magic are part of everyday life. The Turning, based on Celtic folklore, is a Junior Library Guild selection. Radiant Darkness was number one on the IndieBound Kid’s Next List. Wildwing won the Oregon Book Award and was a Bankstreet College Best Children’s Book. Emily grew up in Colorado and studied history at Harvard and UC Berkeley. She's worked in bookstores and behind library reference desks. Emily loves researching her books, whether by mining library treasures or learning to fly falcons. She lives with her family in Portland, Oregon. Come visit her at emilywhitman.com.
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Natasha Farrant
Natasha Farrant grew up in the heart of London's French community, and currently combines writing with her career as a Literary Scout. She is the author of two successful novels for adults, Diving Into Light and Some Other Eden, both published by Transworld. She lives in West London with her husband, two daughters and a large tortoiseshell cat.
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Sibéal Pounder
Sibéal has written for publications including The Guardian, fashion trend forecaster WGSN, Vogue.com and The Financial Times, where she was the resident philanthropy columnist for the How To Spend It section for six years. She studied Modern History at St Andrews and Quentin Tarantino film at Yale.
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Her bestselling debut Witch Wars has been translated into 10 languages so far and was shortlisted for the Sainsbury's Children's Book Award and the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize. -
Luke Gamble
Luke qualified from Bristol University in 1999 and undertook a post graduate scholarship in large animal medicine and surgery at Cambridge University. ALthough primarily a mixed practice vet and based in his New Forest surgery, Pilgrims Veterinary Practice, he is also the founder of the international animal charity Worldwide Veterinary Service (www.wvs.org.uk). His voluntary work with WVS takes him all over the world, helping animals in extreme situations in places where there are no veterinary resources, and was the subject of two TV series on Sky 1. Luke also runs a pet travel company called PetAir UK.
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Luke is a black belt in karate, an ironman triathlete and has run 152miles across the Sahara to raise money for his charity in the gruelli -
Benjamin Read
Benjamin Read writes comics and makes films. He wrote the multiply award-nominated PORCELAIN: A GOTHIC FAIRY TALE, the silent comic BUTTERFLY GATE, and children’s book, NIGHT POST, as well as the TRUE GRIT and SUPER 8 comic adaptations. He also wrote and produced the films ARMISTICE and 500 MILES NORTH. He is one of the founder members of the Improper Books comics collective, and is fuelled principally by tea and whimsy. He is currently working on the rest of the Porcelain sequence, alongside writing his first novel.
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Dominique Valente
Dominique Valente is the bestselling author of the Starfell series.
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She was a journalist for over a decade but thankfully came to her senses and now writes about grumpy monsters, dragons and witches instead.
She grew up in South Africa but now lives along the Suffolk coast in the UK and writes in a green writing shed that takes time to warm up much like her brain. She is powered by coffee, chocolate and stories about magic.
Born with one hand, her books are often subtle love-letters to anyone who has ever felt different or wanted to belong.
For news, book signings, festivals and other events find out more at www.dominiquevalente.com -
Mark Hoyle
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Serena Molloy
Serena Molloy was born in Wexford, Ireland and has worked as an English teacher in many schools in the UK and Ireland. She settled in Galway with her family where she can see the sea every day. As a mum of four her house is always noisy but never, ever dull. Having struggled with dyslexia as a child, her novels are a celebration of neurodiversity, empathy and the power to change.
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Skye McKenna
Skye McKenna grew up in a mining town in the Australian outback. Surrounded by the red dust of the Pilbara, she developed a healthy respect for wild things and wild places at a young age. Seeking adventures of her own, she travelled to the UK and fell in love with the British countryside.
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Skye now lives in Scotland and works for a heritage charity, with whom she recently curated an exhibition on medieval magic. When she’s not reading and writing, she goes looking for stories in the hills and forests of her new home. -
Hannah Gold
Hannah Gold worked in the film and magazine industries before taking time out to pursue her dream of writing. She lives in Lincolnshire with her tortoise, her cat and her husband. This is her middle grade debut.
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Ciannon Smart
Ciannon Smart grew up in a small town in the south-east of England. As the only daughter in a house full of boisterous sons, she developed a voracious appetite for reading from an early age, preferring anarchy in stories rather than real life. In YA she loves her heroines exactly as she loves her villains: wilful, wily, and unpredictable. When not writing, Ciannon can be found reading, painting, or taking the long way home to listen to a good song more than once.
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Philippa Leathley
Philippa Leathley grew up in East Yorkshire, spending summers near London with her eccentric grandparents and writing feverishly as soon as she could hold a pen. When not writing, she enjoys learning new languages, studying anything from historical fashion to shipwrecks, and is passionate about protecting the environment. She currently lives just outside Hull with her family and three weird and wonderful rescue cats, Bram, Lyra and Theo the Brave.
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Her debut children’s book, INKBOUND: METICULOUS JONES AND THE SKULL TATTOO, is due to be published by HarperCollins 30th January 2025 in the UK and 28th January in the US. She’s represented by Hannah Sheppard at HS-LA. -
Sam Copeland
Sam Copeland is a Waterstones Children's Book Prize shortlisted author. He is from Manchester and now lives in London with two smelly cats, three smelly children and one relatively clean-smelling wife. He works as a chicken whisperer, travelling the world using his unique gift to tame wild chickens. Charlie Changes Into a Chicken was his first book. It was followed by the sequel Charlie Turns Into a T-Rex, and the third in the series - Charlie Morphs into a Mammoth - which was published in February 2020. His latest book Uma and the Answer to Absolutely Everything will be released in January 2021. His books have been translated into 26 languages, which is wild really. www.sam-copeland.com
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Brandon Hoàng
Brandon Hoàng is the author of the critically acclaimed Gloria Buenrostro is Not My Girlfriend and The Crossbow of Destiny.
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Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Brandon grew up coveting The Baby-Sitters Club books and slurping noodles. Before he was a writer, Brandon spent 10 years as an animation executive.
Now a television writer by day and novelist by night, he currently resides in Portland, OR with his wife and two daughters. -
Alexandria Rogers
Alexandria is the author of middle grade fantasy adventure, The Witch, the Sword, and the Cursed Knights.
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After receiving her master’s degree at City, University of London for her non-fiction book on the romantic mythology of Paris, she acted, modeled, and wrote in Los Angeles. Eventually, she discovered she preferred drizzly days to eternal sunshine, and that she didn’t want anything to divert her time from writing.
Now the Wisconsin native lives in Edinburgh with her husband and dog, in eternal search of excuses to visit Paris. -
Laura Noakes
Laura Noakes is an author of twisty mysteries for children and young adults. When she's not 'researching' crimes or devising increasingly devious obstacles for her fictional characters, she enjoys badly crocheting, playing Nintendo Switch games on the easiest mode and watching copious amounts of reality TV. She is both disabled and chronically ill and her stories usually feature heroines of the same persuasion. She is owned by and obsessed with her two cats, Scout and Sunny. Her debut book, Cosima Unfortunate Steals a Star, was published in 2023, followed by a sequel in 2024.
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Loris Owen
Loris Owen was born in Bolton and raised in Zimbabwe. She was taught to think sideways at an early age by her dad, and went on to study English at Cambridge. After roaming the world in search of adventure, she settled in the English Midlands, where she can often be found behind mountains of post-it notes or reading to ducks. If she can't be found, she's probably disappeared into a particularly good puzzle.
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Emi Pinto
Emi is a Canadian writer and Doctorate of Education graduate, who writes everything from middle grade to young adult. She's a huge fan of all things fantasy and spooky and hijinks (hello cute ghosts and awkward witches), and loves to weave her mixed Indian and French-Canadian heritage into her stories (dosa with a side of poutine anyone?). When she isn’t reading or writing or pretending to work, you can find her taking long walks in forest trails with her family, looking for fairy doors.
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Nadia Aguiar
The tiny Atlantic island of Bermuda where I was born and raised inspired my trilogy about Tamarind, a magical island where jaguars roam and volcanoes rumble. Join Maya, Simon, and Penny on their exciting adventures escaping pirates, hiding in a treetop village high in the cloud forest, zipping down an ice slide through a glacier, venturing into an eerie, vanishing village, and tracking the fearsome and elusive mandrill through the jungle.
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Megan Shull
A bighearted voice in kids’ fiction and film, MEGAN SHULL is the bestselling author of many stand-up-and-cheer stories for young readers and teens. Her books have been adapted for film, including Disney’s smash hit, The Swap. Most recently, Paramount won the rights to her novel Bounce. Born and raised in Ithaca, New York, Megan holds a doctoral degree from Cornell University, where her work focused on helping kids build resilience. She lives in her hometown, near a lake carved by glaciers and ringed by hills and a trillion waterfalls. Follow along @meganshull on Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads, and visit: heymegan.com.
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Kate Saunders
Kate Saunders (born 1960) was an English author, actress, and journalist. The daughter of the early public relations advocate Basil Saunders and his journalist wife Betty (née Smith), Saunders has worked for newspapers and magazines in the UK, including The Sunday Times, Sunday Express, Daily Telegraph, She, and Cosmopolitan.
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She has also been a regular contributor to radio and television, with appearances on the Radio 4 programs Woman's Hour, Start the Week, and Kaleidoscope. She was, with Sandi Toksvig, a guest on the first episode of the long-running news quiz program Have I Got News For You.
Saunders has also written multiple books for children and for adults. -
Matthew Fox
Winner of the Bath Children's Novel Award
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Barnes & Noble Children's Book Award Shortlist 2024
Financial Times Best Children's Books 2023
Waterstones Best Childrens Fiction Books 2022
Publishers Weekly ★ Review of The Sky Over Rebecca
Booklist ★ Review of The Sky Over Rebecca
Praise for The Lovely Dark:
★★★★★ "A book to teach children about death, and move adults to tears. Fox is a beguiling writer, whose prose cocoons us through the unusual adventures that follow. It is only at the end that the true hero of this deeply affecting story emerges." - Emily Bearn, The Telegraph
"A triumph of a MG novel, exploring death and friendship and hope and perseverance. ... This novel broke me apart and put me back together (thank goodness!). It’s an absolute mus -
Lianne Oelke
Lianne Oelke has a degree in philosophy and works in the film industry—which may explain a lot about her debut novel, Nice Try, Jane Sinner. Or not. She lives, camps, and thinks about cats in Vancouver.
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Emma Reynolds
Emma Reynolds is an illustrator and author based in Manchester, UK.
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Her debut author-illustrator picture book Amara and the Bats is out now with Atheneum - Simon & Schuster. When Amara moves to a new town, she discovers that her beloved bats no longer live nearby because they've lost so much of their habitat. Inspired to take action, Amara gathers her new friends to help save the bats!
Passionate about storytelling and creating unique characters, Emma is also the illustrator of Rescuing Mrs. Birdley written by Aaron Reynolds, published by Simon & Schuster.
Emma also started the #KidLit4Climate illustrated campaign, bringing together thousands of children's illustrators and authors from over 50 countries in solidarity with the youth climate st -
Salamanda Drake
When it comes to dragons, SALAMANDA DRAKE knows her Goldenbrows from her Finbacks.
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She is sixteen years old and lives with her father, a dragon rider in the Isles of Bresal. Her love of dragons began at the age of three, when her "Da" began taking her to fairs and showings around the islands. Discovering she had a special way with even the most unruly of creatures, she soon learnt that (in her own words) 'The only way to train a dragon is to be patient and never give up.'
She spends much of her free time (sometimes when she should be at school) sweeping, grooming, and exercising her father's dragons. Salamanda has a Trustbond with Hillsweeper, a Firecrest dragon, and together they are now competing at Showings. They have high hopes of repres -
Tamsin Mori
Tamsin had a nomadic childhood (eight different schools!), but the one place that always felt like home was Shetland, her mother’s homeland. Shetland is a collection of teeny tiny islands, so far north they struggle to fit on the map. They are overflowing with myths and legends, most of which are true. Growing up, Tamsin was usually to be found on the beach, whispering spells into sea shells and singing to the selkies.
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Tamsin now lives in Bath with her husband, two children, one rabbit, several crows, and a badger, though she flies home to Shetland whenever she can – if you go there in the summer, you’ll probably spot her, striding about with the wind in her hair, chasing a wild story. -
Chris Smith
Chris Smith is an award-winning author, broadcaster and parent (a mug saying ‘World’s Greatest Dad’ counts as an award, right?). He grew up in leafy Northamptonshire and now lives in not-as-leafy North London with his wife, son and a cat called Mabel, who can talk. If you listen very carefully to the George Michael song ‘Outside’ you can hear a sample of Chris reading the news. He makes excellent tea.
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Sarah Merrett
Sarah grew up in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight. She went to art school and gained three degrees from different universities. She loves animals, being out in nature, and doing all kinds of creative things. In between writing children’s stories, she can often be found creating with Lego, getting muddy in her garden, or wielding a power tool. She has worked as a bookseller and a school librarian. She lives in rural Hampshire with her two children and one husband.
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X: https://x.com/sjmerrett1
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sarahmerrett...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahmerrett1/ -
Alexandra Sheppard
I'm an author from North London, and my debut novel OH MY GODS will be published by Scholastic in January 2019. To say I'm excited would be an understatement.
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When I'm not writing YA fiction, I'm a social media strategist (it's a real job, I promise), and love to bake nearly as much as I love to read. -
Taylor Tyng
Taylor Tyng is an American author of fantastical fiction for young readers. His first novel, CLARA POOLE AND THE LONG WAY ROUND (Pixel+Ink), was called "an engrossing and inventive flight through the skies" by Kirkus Reviews and a "soaring debut with echoes of Jules Verne and Roald Dahl" by Booklist. Its follow-up, CLARA POOLE AND THE WRONG WAY UP was published in July 2024. Taylor is currently working on SPROUT (Random House Children's Books, 2026), a middle grade contemporary fantasy about a girl searching for the truth behind her strange abnormality.
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Taylor Tyng got to writing late. After spending his early years performing in LA rock clubs, Taylor created a design agency and a software company for the advertising and entertainment indust -
H.S. Norup
H. S. Norup is the award-winning author of The Changeling Child, Into The Faerie Hill, The Hungry Ghost and The Missing Barbegazi - a Sunday Times Book of the Year in 2018. She grew up in Denmark, where she devoured fairy tales and escaped into books. After living in six different countries, she now resides in Switzerland and writes stories inspired by her travels, set in the borderlands between the real and imaginary worlds. When she's not writing or reading, she spends her time outdoors either skiing, hiking, swimming or taking photos.
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