Tony Abbott was born in Cleveland, Ohio on January 7, 1952. He attended the University of Connecticut, majoring first in music, then psychology, and finally English. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in English literature. After that, he traveled to Europe before returning home and finding work in a variety of bookstores, a library and at an Internet book and magazine publisher. His first published book, Danger Guys, was written while taking a writing class with children's author, Patricia Reilly Giff. Since then, he's written over 75 books for children ages 6 to 12, including The Secrets of Droon series, The Haunting of Derek Stone series, and The Time Surfers series. Firegirl won the… Golden Kite Award for Fiction in 2007 and The Postcard won the Edgar Award for the Best Juvenile Mystery novel in 2009.
The fourth girl in a family of 8 children, Colleen Madden made it through childhood pretending to be a space princess with a wookie sidekick and drawing in her cardboard box art studio. Colleen graduated from a small liberal arts school in Massachusetts, with a contract major in illustration and English literature. She is currently residing in the Philadelphia area, with her writer-husband, Patrick, and their 2 sons, Sean and Gabe. She is daily inspired by her 3 boys, who champion the quirkier and more complicated side of life and always, ALWAYS make her laugh out loud. She has illustrated for many different kinds of clients and is the recipient of an International Greeting Card Louie… Award. When not illustrating, Colleen can be found battling slugs in her shade garden or pretending to be a long-distance runner.