Catherine Forde was discovered on the slush pile. Before turning to writing full time, she worked as a lexicographer for Collins and taught in secondary schools. She lives in Glasgow with her husband and two sons. All her books have received wide acclaim and Fat Boy Swim won the Grampian Children's Book Award and was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Award and Booktrust Teenage Prize; The Drowning Pond was nominated for the Scottish Book Award and shortlisted for the Manchester Book Award; and Skarrs was longlisted for the Carnegie. Catherine's new thriller Sugarcoated is published in April 2008.