A professional writer for over 20 years, Dandi Daley Mackall has written dozens of articles for popular magazines and published around 500 books for children and adults alike, with sales of over 4 million. A frequent guest on radio and television talk shows, she lives in rural Ohio with her husband, three children, horses, dogs, & cats. Awards include the Edgar Award for Best YA Mystery, the Helen Keating Ott Award for Contributions to Children's Literature; Distinguished Alumni Award from Mizzou; ALA Best Book; Christian Children's Book of the Year, Amelia Bloom, Mom's Choice Awards. Her YA novel, My Boyfriends' Dogs, is now a Hallmark movie.

Librarian's Note: There is more than one author with this name. Carol Smith was born in London and worked in the book trade, both in London and New York, before becoming a full-time writer herself. For much of that time she ran her own literary agency, focussed on finding and developing new talent, although now her own writing takes up most of her time. She lives in Kensington. She also writes under the name Alex Crowe.