Winter Magic

Winter Magic

Abi Elphinstone grew up in Scotland where she spent most of her childhood building dens, hiding in tree houses and running wild across highland glens. After being coaxed out of her tree house, she studied English at Bristol University and then worked as a teacher in Africa, Berkshire and London. She is the author of THE DREAMSNATCHER, THE SHADOW KEEPER and THE NIGHT SPINNER, a series of fast-paced adventure books for 8-12 year olds which follow Moll, Sid, Alfie and wildcat Gryff's quest to find the Amulets of Truth and destroy the Shadowmasks' dark magic. When she's not writing, Abi volunteers for Beanstalk charity, speaks in schools and travels the world looking for her next story. Her latest adventure involved living with the Kazakh Eagle Hunters in Mongolia... You can find more about Abi at www.abielphinstone.com or follow her on social media: Facebook: www.facebook.com/abi.elphinstone; Twitter: @moontrug; Instagram: @moontrugger. Amy Alward is a Canadian author and freelance editor who divides her time between the UK and Canada. In 2013, she was listed as one of The Bookseller's Rising Stars. Her debut fantasy adventure novel, The Oathbreaker's Shadow, was published in 2013 under the name Amy McCulloch and was longlisted for the 2014 Branford Boase Award for best UK debut children's book. Her first book written as Amy Alward, The Potion Diaries, was an international success and the second novel in the series, The Potion Diaries: Royal Tour will be published in August 2016. She is currently travelling the world, researching more extraordinary settings and intriguing potions for the third book in the series. She lives life in a continual search for adventure, coffee, and really great books. Visit her at AmyAlward.co.uk or on Twitter @Amy_Alward. Michelle Harrison is a full-time writer. She is a former bookseller and editorial assistant. Originally from Grays in Essex, she has a degree in illustration, and lives in Oxfordshire with her partner. Her debut novel THE THIRTEEN TREASURES won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize in 2009. She has since published two sequels, THE THIRTEEN CURSES and THE THIRTEEN SECRETS, as well as her teen novel UNREST. Geraldine McCaughrean is an award-winning author who has written more than 130 books and plays for children and adults. She recently won the Whitbread Children's Book Award for the third time with Not the End of the World, and her other awards include the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Fiction Award, and the Smarties Bronze Award. She lives in Berkshire, England. Visit www.geraldinemccaughrean.co.uk. Lauren St John was born in Gatooma, Rhodesia, now Kadoma, Zimbabwe, in December 1966. After studying journalism in Africa, she moved to London, where she was for many years golf correspondent to The Sunday Times. She is the author of several books on sports, the biography Hardcore Troubadour: The Life and Near Death of Steve Earle, and one children's novel, The White Giraffe.