Karen McCombie is a bestselling author of children and young adult novels, and has had than 80 books published Originally from Scotland, she lives in London with her husband Tom, their 15 year old daughter Milly and a beautiful but bitey cat called Dizzy She is the author of the much loved series Ally s World , and her most recent books include St Grizzle s School For Girls, Goats and Random Boys 2017 for younger readers and novels Catching Falling Stars 2015 , The Whispers of Wilderwood Hall 2016 and The Pearl in the Attic 2017 for older readers She has several books publishing throughout 2018.