BIOGRAPHY

M. G. Leonard has made up stories ever since she was little. Back then, adults called them lies or tall tales, so she didn’t write them down. Now, she makes up stories about wonderous beetles, beautiful birds, adventures on trains or anything that sparks her imagination. She is the bestselling writer of children’s books such as Beetle Boy, the Adventures on Trains series and The Twitchers books. Her work had been translated into over forty languages and Beetle Boy is currently in development as a live-action series for TV. Her books have won many awards, including the Best Crime Fiction Novel for Children 2022 CrimeFest award, Sainsbury’s Children’s Book of the Year 2021, British Book Awards Book of the year 2021 - Children’s fiction, China’s Children's Choice Book: Gold Medal 2018, the Branford Boase Award 2017, as well as being nominated three times for the Carnegie Medal, twice shortlisted for an Edgar by the Mystery Writers of America and twice longlisted for the Wainwright Prize.

She burst into bookshops with her quirky debut Beetle Boy in 2016, and the success of her beetle books have led to her becoming a vice president of the insect charity Buglife. She and her beetles have appeared on Blue Peter, Springwatch Unsprung, Countryfile, Meet the Author with James Naughtie, Sky News, and featured in the BBC documentary, The Bug Couple.

Maya lives by the sea with her husband and two sons, a dog called Nell and a tank of exotic beetles. She spent her early career in the music industry running Setanta Records, an independent record label, and managing bands, most notably The Divine Comedy. After leaving the music industry, she trained as an actor, dabbling in directing and producing as well as performing, before becoming a digital producer for Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre and Harry Potter West End.

Maya is one of the founding authors of #Authors4Oceans, with Lauren St John, campaigning to reduce single-use plastics.

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

Hello, my name is Maya

I live in England, on the coast, between the sea and the South Downs.

My real name is Maya Gabrielle but my pen name is M. G. Leonard. I created a pen name because my eldest son and I don’t share a surname, and I made him a promise that if my books got published I’d take his middle name as my pen surname. I think it is important to keep promises. When you talk to me, call me Maya. When talking about my writing, please call me M. G. Leonard. Thanks.

I was born in Torquay in Devon, and I wrote my first book at the age of twelve, about a witch whose spells backfired.

I love listening to music. Every moment of my life has a song, every day a soundtrack. If I'm writing, I'm usually listening to Philip Glass or Max Richter.

I write every day, usually early in the morning, in a shed at the bottom of my garden.

My stories are for young people, or people who are young at heart, who embrace nature’s wild and crazy majesty.

And yes, it's true that I used to be scared of insects, but now, I love them and keep exotic beetles as pets.

MAYA’S INSTAGRAM