Maryrose Wood

Maryrose Wood was not raised by wolves, exactly. However, she did grow up in the wild suburbs of Long Island, New York, an experience that left her howling for adventure.

A confirmed theatre geek, at age 17 she moved to New York City to study acting. Soon she dropped out of college to be in the chorus of a Broadway musical—which flopped. As Agatha Swanburne would have been inclined to remark, “You win some, you lose some.” (Note that some people believe Agatha Swanburne also coined the expression “There’s no business like show business.” However, proper credit goes to Irving Berlin, who also had a real knack for turning a catchy phrase.)

Lean and action-packed years followed, full of acting, directing, playwriting, and making tipsy people laugh at comedy clubs. Maryrose’s writing for the stage made her a three-time winner of the prestigious Richard Rodgers Award, administered by the American Academy for Arts and Letters.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place is her first series for middle-grade readers. Book 1, The Mysterious Howling, was published in 2010 and received starred reviews in Booklist, Kirkus, SLJ and Publishers Weekly, and was named a Best Children’s Book of 2010 by the Christian Science Monitor, Kirkus, and others. It was followed by The Hidden Gallery in 2011. The third book in the series, The Unseen Guest, was published in March 2012. All three titles were named Junior Library Guild selections.

Maryrose has taught fiction writing and playwriting and is a popular speaker at schools, libraries and conferences. For fun she likes to garden, bike, kayak, and try new vegetarian recipes. You can find her online at www.maryrosewood.com or on Twitter at @Maryrose_Wood.