Annelise Gray was born in Bermuda and moved to the UK as a child. She grew up riding horses and dreaming of becoming a writer. After gaining a PhD in Classics from Cambridge, she worked as a researcher for authors and TV companies on topics as varied as Helen of Troy, Russian princesses and the history of labradors. She's previously published a history of the women of the Roman Empire and a crime novel set in the Roman Republic. Annelise's debut children's novel, Circus Maximus: Race to the Death, was published by Zephyr in 2021 and Rivals on the Track in 2022. Annelise lives with her husband in Dorset where she teaches Latin. annelisegray.co.uk Twitter: @AnneliseGray