Hi, my name's Sarah Ball - actually it isn't, it's Sarah Harris!  As I was writing before I got married I decided to keep my maiden name for writing.  It can get a bit confusing, especially when I go to the bank sometimes, but I quite like having two names... 

I started writing seriously when I was pregnant with my first child.  My husband's job had relocated and so I was living in a new place where I didn't know anyone.  I had been a chef in our old town but the thought of finding another job in a restaurant felt impossible with morning sickness that went on for months and made it difficult to even smell food some days!  Instead I spent my new found time decorating our house and writing my first novel, Nine Months (a story about a chef getting pregnant - aha!).  

Luckily, after sending my book out to a handful of agents my first novel was picked up by my publisher Piatkus.  I wrote two more novels for them; Marry Me and Written in the Stars and during that time I also had two lovely children.  We moved around the country a few times too, from Cheshire to Bath and then finally settled in Cambridge.

In Cambridge I home educated my youngest child for a while (long story) and found it harder to write to a deadline.  Having been published at a relatively early age I also wanted to take some time out to learn more about writing and the direction I wanted to go in.   

I started an English degree (still on-going) and a business (a little online fabric shop - sewing is another big passion of mine!) and I kept writing, trying out different techniques and styles.  It was during this time that I wrote The Dream Theatre, my favourite book so far.  I've wanted to write for children ever since I can remember.  I loved Judy Blume and Roald Dahl in particular and still read their books today.

The Dream Theatre is set in a fictional village called Horam Wood, on the outskirts of Bath, but it is inspired by the village where we lived near Bath called Monkton Farleigh.  It's a beautiful place and very mysterious, sitting on a huge network of underground tunnels that were built during the World War II.

My children are now aged 13 and 10.  We have a cat called Ziggy and a greedy black Labrador called Edith.  I work from home, writing and running my fabric shop.  I like to make clothes and walk the dog and am trying very hard to teach myself to run.  I live in Converse and jeans, drink tea all day and am completely addicted to bread and crisps.  I'm currently writing my second children's book...