Camille Sharp

I couldn't tell you how long I've been writing. The full-on pencil to paper stuff probably started around age 9 when I wrote a mystery about a hamster that stole money for housing materials. It was weird, but short. (The story, I mean. I honestly on't remember how tall the hamster was.)

But the earliest days were spent crafting alternate worlds and realities while sitting in the car listening to an odd mix of country, Motown, pop and classic 80s hair bands. There was the occasional injection of Bluegrass which is in my blood, apparently, but it was never my thing.

My serious storytelling began in my teens. Hidden away in my room for hours, I filled notebooks with handwritten stories. I was about 19 when I bought my first laptop. It was incredibly heavy and had all the aesthetic charms of a brick. It was awesome, and a huge step up from eraser marks, crossed out lines and doodles in the margins.

I write heroines that are smart, sexy and basically kind. All the things I want to be if I ever decide to grow up.

I love mysteries, romance and speculative fiction. I weave romance into pretty much all of my books, but I explore other relationships as well. Friendships and the various bonds within families are deeply important; I draw inspiration from my personal history and years of people watching.

I firmly believe that books are vital, our imaginations need to be protected and cultivated and boredom, in the hands of resourceful children, breeds creativity.

One of the most useful lessons I learned as a child was that if you're in a situation where you can't really conquer or surrender, stories give you the option to escape. Even if only for a few hours.

Camille Sharp