Marie-Louise Gregory lived in Merseyside, Lancashire and Yorkshire before moving to Cheshire, to the pretty North West village featured in the Sophia Slewfoot stories, where she lives with her husband, two children and a bouncy Boston Terrier.

Having always enjoyed curling up with a good book, especially old-fashioned mystery and adventure stories, Marie-Louise studied English Literature at Leeds University.  Marie-Louise’s love of reading, research, analysis and advocacy then led her initially to a career as a dispute resolution solicitor in a large commercial law firm, and latterly as a knowledge lawyer, responsible for the training and professional development of others.

Marie-Louise’s passion for language, literacy and traditional storytelling prompted her to write the part-fact, part-fiction ‘Sophia Slewfoot Solves History’s Mysteries’ series, with which she hopes to challenge, inspire and entertain a new generation of mystery- and history- loving bookworms.

When she is not reading or writing, Marie-Louise enjoys indulging in good food and wine, walking the dog, and taking horse-riding lessons with her daughter and friends.

Nicky Brooks grew up in a small town in South Cheshire.  Following periods living in Birmingham and Manchester, Nicky returned to Cheshire where she now lives with her husband, two daughters and playful Labradoodle.

Nicky studied Printed Textile Design at UCE Birmingham, which led to a career in fashion buying that saw her travelling the world.  When she became a mum, Nicky chose to retrain as a Teaching Assistant, enabling her to spend more time at home with her children.  Nicky has found being a Teaching

Assistant to be hugely rewarding. Helping primary aged children to learn and grow has given Nicky an invaluable insight into what motivates children, which has been inspirational in her illustrations.

When not working or illustrating, Nicky enjoys being creative around the house and garden.  She also loves family outings to the beach, socialising with friends, walking her dog, Rusty, and attending ballet classes.