Emma Barnes

I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, where my family lived in a house that a lot of people thought was the childhood home of author Robert Louis Stevenson – they used to come and take photos of it – only it wasn’t. As a child I used to make up stories to entertain my sister, and stop her moaning while walking the dog on the footpaths near our house. I was a bookworm, and especially liked reading historical fiction – maybe that was why I chose to study history at university. I lived and worked in London, then studied in Colorado, which I where I was published for the first time, when I won a competition in the local newspaper. The prize was a pair of shoes, which I still wear on school visits.In my spare time I kept writing, and eventually struck lucky when my first children's book, Jessica Haggerthwaite: Witch Dispatcher was published in 2001. The story of a girl who wants to be famous scientist, and whose mother just happens to be a professional witch, it won much praise and has been translated into many languages.I have continued to write for children, and often visit schools and libraries, to meet my readers. My latest book, Wolfie, is the story of Lucie, who is given a pet dog...which turns out to be a magic wolf. As they go on adventures together, it turns out that sometimes a girl's best friend really is a wolf! Wolfie has been very popular, especially in Australia, where perhaps the subject matter of wolves, winter and woods deep in snow is particularly appealing.My next book Wild Thing is the first in a series about the naughtiest little sister ever, all told from the point of view of her exasperated older sister, Kate.