Karen reckons she's not very young but her style is (jeans, t-shirts and trainers) and so is her brain (full of films, bands, books and silliness). She was born in Aberdeen but now lives in North London, near Alexandra Palace, with her husband, her daughter Milly and a fat ginger cat called Gus. She used to write for teen mags like J17 and Sugar before, after lots of publishers told her to go away, eventually becoming a full-time writer. Her fab series include the Ally's World, Indie Kidd, Sadie Rocks and Stella Rules books, and she has also written standalone novels like An Urgent Message of Wowness, The Seventeen Secrets of the Karma Club, My Funny Valentine and In Sarah's Shadow.

Fabulous Teen Queen Karen facts

• Karen's favourite books when she was a kid were the Little House on the Prairie series, books by Paula Danziger and a dark and funny book called The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris by Leon Garfield
• Karen uses the diaries she wrote at school for research – so if you want to be a writer make sure you don't throw your diaries away!
• When she worked on magazines, Karen's jobs included Fashion Editor, Quiz Writer and Pet Correspondent
• Karen sometimes writes in her loft room but ends up staring at the clouds or emailing her friends. So she tries writing in the garden, and ends up surrounded by cats, squirrels and inquisitive pigeons…
• In her spare time, Karen likes watching videos, eating crisps and belly dancing, but not all at the same time!
• If she wasn't a writer, Karen would like to do something to do with animals. Ideally a professional cat stroker!

Click here to read Karen's answers to Queen of Teen's exclusive Q&A

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