M. G. Leonard

M. G. Leonard has made up stories ever since she was little. Back then, adults called them lies or tall tales, so she didn’t write them down. Now, she makes up stories about wonderous beetles, beautiful birds, adventures on trains or anything that sparks her imagination. She is the bestselling writer of children’s books such as Beetle Boy, the Adventures on Trains series and The Twitchers books. Her work has been translated into over forty languages and Beetle Boy is currently in development as a live-action series for TV. Her books have won many awards, including the Best Crime Fiction Novel for Children 2022 CrimeFest award, Sainsbury’s Children’s Book of the Year 2021, British Book Awards Book of the Year 2021 – Children’s fiction, China’s Children’s Choice Book: Gold Medal 2018, the Branford Boase Award 2017, as well as being nominated three times for the Carnegie Medal, twice shortlisted for an Edgar by the Mystery Writers of America and twice longlisted for the Wainwright Prize. She burst into bookshops with her quirky debut Beetle Boy in 2016, and the success of her beetle books have led to her becoming a vice president of the insect charity Buglife. She and her beetles have appeared on Blue Peter, Springwatch Unsprung, Countryfile, Meet the Author with James Naughtie, Sky News, and featured in the BBC documentary, The Bug Couple. Maya lives by the sea with her husband and two sons, a dog called Nell and a tank of exotic beetles. 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 becoming a digital producer for Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre and Harry Potter West End. Maya is one of the founding authors of #Authors4Oceans, with Lauren St John, campaigning to reduce single-use plastics.