Lee Weatherly

Lee Weatherly is an author of children’s and young adult fiction. Her first book, Child X (David Fickling Books, 2002), was inspired by a news story about a man who learned he was not his teenage child’s biological father and sued the mother for costs and maintenance. Lee wondered about the teenager behind the story: what would it be like to have your childhood invalidated by the only father you knew? She’s also the author of the bestselling young adult trilogy Angel (Usborne, 2010) and over fifty other titles; her work often focuses on questions of identity. Awards include the Sheffield children’s book award, the Stockport children’s book award and the Leeds book award.

Since 2015, Lee’s been involved with WoMentoring, a scheme where published women novelists offer free mentoring to aspiring female writers unable to afford professional guidance. Passionate about helping new talent reach its full potential, Lee has been delighted to see several of her mentees go on to writing careers of their own. She is the co-author of Teach Yourself How to Write a Blockbuster (Hodder, 2006) and has taught writing courses for Arvon, Cornerstones and Faber.

Lee grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and has wanted to be an author since writing her first story at the age of five. Working at a literary agency in her twenties inspired her to take the plunge. She now lives with her husband and dog in the Scottish Borders, where she one day hopes to run a writers’ retreat.