Katie Kirby is a writer and illustrator who lives by the sea in Hove with her husband, two sons and dog Sasha.

She has a degree in Advertising and Marketing and after spending several years working in London media agencies, which basically involved hanging out in fancy restaurants and pretending to know what she was talking about, she had some children and decided to start a blog called 'Hurrah for Gin' about the gross injustice of it all.

Many people said her sense of humour was silly and immature so she is now having a bash at writing children's fiction. The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks is her first novel.

Katie likes gin, rabbits, over-thinking things, the smell of launderettes and Monster Munch. She does not like losing at board games or writing about herself in the third person.