Author

Jill Atkins, Lynne Benton, Jackie Walter, Damian Harvey, Sue Graves, Katie Woolley, Sarah Snashall

Jill Atkins (Author)

I am Jill Atkins, an escaped teacher, now writing for children with 46 books published so far, ranging from early reading material to teenage novels.

I'm married with two grown-up children and five grandchildren, no pets, though I used to have three beautiful cats, guinea pigs and rabbits. When I was a child, we kept chickens and I loved them, too.

I always have my nose in a book. I read both adult's and children's books. My favourite children's books include The Railway Children by E Nesbit, Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson, River on the Say by Philippa Pearce. My adult reading varies from Charles Dickens to many modern authors. I enjoy listening to music, classical, jazz and some pop.

Lynne Benton (Author)

Lynne Benton was born in Bournemouth, but moved to Bath at 18 to train as a teacher, and has lived there ever since. She has taught in several primary schools in the area, as well as working as pianist and receptionist in a dancing school and bringing up four children. In 1982 she and her husband, Robin, a fellow-teacher and composer, co-wrote a musical play for primary schools based on the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece (still, happily, in print) but it was only when their children began leaving home for university that she began writing seriously. In 1996 she was a prizewinner in the Independent's Children's Story of the Year competition, and since then has had several fiction books published. As well as writing longer novels for older children she enjoys writing humorous "bite-size" stories for younger ones.

She welcomes invitations to go into schools and talk to children about her books, since it keeps her in touch with her readers, who she finds a continual source of inspiration.

Jackie Walter (Author)

Jackie Walter has written and edited many books for children. She never gets tired of listening to and telling a good story. Jackie lives in Cornwall with her husband and young daughters.

Damian Harvey (Author)

Damian Harvey lives in North Wales with his lovely wife, Vicky. He has three wonderful daughters, one brilliant boy and a cat called Polly. He has written more than 130 books for primary school aged children and is busy writing more. When he isn't writing, Damian loves visiting schools, libraries, bookshops, festivals and anywhere that will have him, where he shares stories, talks about writing and gets people excited about books and reading. You can find out more about Damian by visiting http://www.damianharvey.co.uk and follow him on Twitter @damianjharvey

Sue Graves (Author)

Sue Graves has been a freelance children's author for more than 17 years. She has written over tw