About Mel

Mel Taylor-Bessent is the author of The Christmas Carrolls, a fun-filled, festive series that focuses on spreading cheer 365 days a year. Her new series, Race to Imagination Island, is a fast-paced adventure series that focuses on the unlimited power of our imaginations.

About Mel

Mel has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. In fact, one of her favourite childhood memories was when she found her Great Grandmother’s typewriter hidden under the stairs and she spent her whole summer holiday working on her latest ‘masterpiece’. It came as no surprise that Mel followed her passion for writing into university, and after graduating with a Creative Writing degree, she set up her own company at the age of 22 and ran creative writing after school clubs for children aged 7+.

‘Little Star Writing’ grew so quickly that Mel developed a training scheme for 150+ tutors, wrote weekly lesson plans and even ran workshops across Europe, organised two literary festivals and arranged more than 200 author events.

And Mel’s love for writing and children’s books didn’t stop there . . . A few years later, she developed an online platform that brought children all over the world closer to their favourite authors. She called it ‘Authorfy’ and it quickly became one of the leading literacy websites with videos and resources from authors such as Michael Morpurgo, Michael Rosen, Cressida Cowell and Anthony Horowitz. After winning a few awards, partnering with all major children’s publishers and running campaigns with the likes of World Book Day and BookTrust, Mel returned to her own writing in 2020 and her debut trilogy ‘The Christmas Carrolls’, was published in October 2021 by Farshore (an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books).

“Mel is one of the most impressive people in children’s publishing.”

— Abi Elphinstone, bestselling author of ‘Sky Song’, ‘The Unmapped Chronicles’ and ‘The Dream Snatcher’ series

“Well known in the children’s book world as the creator of Authorfy, Mel makes her debut with the story of the world’s most Christmassy family. Full of festive giggles and a message about what really matters.”

— Fiona Noble, The Bookseller

Highlights…