Judy Waite
Judy Waite was born in Portsmouth, although she spent some of her childhood in Singapore. She always loved anything creative and even as a child she spent hours in her room writing stories and making comics (some still lovingly preserved by her Mum).
She studied at Art College but, after travelling to America and teaching art at a summer camp, she discovered she also loved working with children, and so made a career switch. She currently works in a junior school, helping children with special needs.
She also teaches Creative Writing to adults.
She rediscovered her own love of writing about ten years ago, when she began bashing out comic stories on an old typewriter she found in a junk shop.
Since then she has written a range of books - and splashed out and bought a proper PC! She loves the challenge of tackling stories for different age groups, as well as exploring subjects that are new to her.
Judy's latest novel, The Next Big Thing, taps into the contemporary obsession with fame, fortune and celebrity gossip - telling the story of the rise and fall of a teenage pop idol.
Judy has two teenage daughters-Rachel and Libby-and lives near Southampton.