Keris Stainton was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which, by all accounts, is very cold. And also hot. But when she was four months old, her parents moved back to the UK, and now she lives in Lancashire with a fellow northerner, their two ridiculously gorgeous sons and a pug. Okay, they haven't got a pug, but Keris hopes if she writes it here it will come true. If you write it, pugs will come.

Keris has been writing stories for as long as she can remember, but she didn't write a novel until 2004 when she took part in National Novel Writing Month. She hasn't quite finished that one yet, but she has finished a few others, including ONE ITALIAN SUMMER, COUNTING STARS, JESSIE HEARTS NYC, DELLA SAYS: OMG!, and EMMA HEARTS LA.. Find out more about Keris at www.keris-stainton.com or follow her on Twitter: @Keris