Joseph Elliott is the author of the award-winning Shadow Skye trilogy, and an actor. He is best known for playing pirate 'Cook' in the BAFTA-winning CBeebies series Swashbuckle, for which he also writes many of the scripts. In 2020, he co-created, wrote and starred in Big Fat Like, a comedy sketch show, and he is also part of the scriptwriting team for Horrible Histories and Class Dismissed.

When not writing or acting, Joseph loves pottery, snorkelling and playing board games.

Nici Gregory is an illustrator who specialises in children's books. After studying graphic design in Hamburg, Germany, she worked as an in-house illustrator in a marketing firm. When she realised her work in the margins continued to be her best work, she embarked on a full-time creative illustration career. She lives in Sheffield with her family and her studio dog Coco. NORA AND THE MAP OF MAYHEM is her first book for older readers.