Susan Price wrote her first book when she was 16 and her Dad had to sign the contract because she was still legally under age! Called The Devil's Piper it was published just as Susan was leaving school at 18.

Susan was born in Dudley in the West Midlands and has lived there ever since. She hated school and says, “'the least said about my time there, the better”.

As a child, she loved hearing stories about her parents' childhood and being read stories of all sorts. Her favourite was The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. Because of that, she decided at an early age to be a writer.

Susan writes full-time and regards it as a job. She says, “I write because that's how I earn my living. But I enjoy it too. Not having to get up too early in the morning is one of the best things about being a writer and being poor is one of the worst.”

Susan has won many awards for her writing: The Other Award, 1974 for Twopence a Tub; The Carnegie Medal, 1987 for The Ghost Drum; and The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, 1999 for The Sterkarm Handshake.