Catherine MacPhail

Catherine was born and brought up in Greenock in Scotland, where she still lives. She started off writing short stories for magazines and radio, as well as two romantic novels. She never even considered writing for children until something happened to her daughter, Katie, which sparked off her first novel for teenagers, Run Zan Run. It was published in 1994 and won the Kathleen Fidler Award for a first novel. Her second, Fighting Back was one of the first winners of the Scottish Children’s Book Award in 1999. More recently, Roxy’s Baby was the Bloomsbury book that appeared on the most award shortlists in 2006. It also made the longlist for the Carnegie Medal. Nemesis: Ride of Death is Cathy’s twenty-fourth book. She has been Chair of the Scottish Children’s Writers and Illustrators, as well as a past President of the Scottish Association of Writers.