Ever since she learnt to hold a pen, Laura Sieveking has loved creating stories. She remembers hiding in her room as a six-year-old, writing a series of books about an unlikely friendship between a princess and a bear.

As an adult, Laura has spent the vast majority of her career working in publishing as an editor. After several years, she decided to put down her red pen and open up her laptop to create a series of her own.

The Academy series is a combination of all Laura's favourite things writing, friendship and sport, and take her back to her happy childhood memories of gymnastics training and competition.

Laura lives in Sydney with her husband and two children.

Katie Abey is an illustrator who lives in a teeny hobbit-like house in Derbyshire with a cat, a hedgehog and a husband. Her work often features animals, and she likes using a lot of colour: this love of colour is reflected in her brightly coloured studio space and her hair, which frequently changes colour to match its surroundings. Katie's ideas and strange sense of humour perfectly suit the field of children's publishing.

She has also produced stationary and greeting cards, and her illustrations have graced stores such as WHSmiths, Urban Outfitters, Paperchase and Scribbler. When Katie is not drawing awkward cats and llamas she enjoys yoga, reading and referring to herself in the third person.