Julia Golding is a multi-award winning writer for children and young adults. She also writes under the pen names of Joss Stirling and Eve Edwards. Well over half a million of her books have been sold worldwide in more than twenty different languages.Former British diplomat and Oxfam policy adviser, she has now published over thirty novels in genres ranging from historical adventure to fantasy. Read carefully and you'll spot all sorts of material from her diplomatic and Oxfam careers popping up in unexpected places. She also has a doctorate in English literature from Oxford.Studying for the doctorate prompted her to write her first novel, 'The Diamond of Drury Lane', set in 1790 and told by… her intrepid heroine, Cat Royal. It went on to win the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2006 and the Nestle Children's Book Prize 2006 (formerly known as the Smarties Prize). In the US, 'Secret of the Sirens' won the honor book medal of the Green Earth Book Award. 'Dragonfly' won the 2012 Beehive Book Award, Young Adult Division, given by the Children's Literature Association of Utah.Married with three children, she lives in Oxford, UK.