Matt Ralphs

Fire Girl and Fire Witch author Matt Ralphs has always been fascinated by witches, ghosts and anything that sent a shiver down his spine - and as a child was convinced that his Suffolk home was haunted. His favourite childhood book was Enid Blyton's The Enchanted Wood as it was magical, mysterious and a little bit weird - and his goal as an author is to create books that make children feel just as happy, scared and thrilled as he did when reading as a kid.

If he had to choose between being a witch or being a demon, he would plump for the latter, as he believes it might be fun to be evil for a while - but Shhh - don't tell anyone!