Annie Dalton grew up as an only child in the
countryside during the fifties. For the first years of
her life her father was mostly away overseas. When he was home on leave he would entertain her with fantastical stories, often casting her as a central character. After her father left their family for
good, Annie missed him and his stories and her intense longing eventually took her to the fantasy section in her local library, thus starting a life-long addiction to fiction.
Annie studied at Warwick University and soon began to write. She quickly established herself as a successful children’s writer when her second story The Real Tilly Beany was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, as was Night Maze. The After Dark Princess won the Nottinghamshire Book Award and Naming the Dark and Swan Sister were both shortlisted for the Sheffield Children’s Book Award. As a result of being asked to contribute a story for A Century of Stories, an anthology compiled by Wendy Cooling and published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, she created the angel Mel
Beeby. From this one-off story a whole new Mel Beeby, Agent Angel series about the character was created.
Annie Dalton says she never held down a ‘real’ job for more than a few months but she did once work as a Writer in Residence in a prison and it changed her life: “I was there for three years, on and off, and it changed me completely.” She now lives overlooking a Norfolk meadow with a ruined castle and her reputation as a successful children’s author continues to grow. Annie’s writing is lively, contemporary and witty; she tackles very real subjects with both humour and sensitivity.
