Tanya Byrne was born in London where she spent forty years before moving to Brighton. After eight years at BBC Radio, she left to write her debut novel, HEART-SHAPED BRUISE, which earned her a nomination for New Writer of the Year at the National Book Awards. Since then, she has written five more. Her most recent, AFTERLOVE, hit both the Amazon and Waterstones bestseller lists. She has also contributed to several short story anthologies including A CHANGE IS GONNA COME, which was named Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week and was honoured with a Special Achievement Award by the YA Book Prize. Her next novel, IN THE SHALLOWS, is out in February published by Hodder Children's Books.