Amanda Wills

I was born in Singapore but grew up in the Kent countryside, surrounded by a menagerie of animals including four horses, three cats, a dog and numerous sheep, rabbits and chickens.

I worked as a journalist in Kent for more than 20 years and am now a police press officer.

In 2013 I decided to combine my love of writing with my passion for horses and began writing The Lost Pony of Riverdale.

The novel's pony-mad protagonist Poppy McKeever and equine hero Cloud were inspired by my own pony-filled childhood and my beloved Connemara Hamilton.

I live in Kent with my husband Adrian, a fellow author, and our sons, Oliver and Thomas. In my spare time I like nothing more than riding, playing tennis and walking and cycling around the leafy lanes near our home.