Fiona Spence Arnold

Fiona Spence-Arnold grew up in London and now lives in deepest, darkest Leicestershire with her family and bouncy dog. She writes funny chapter books and exciting middle-grade adventures for children. She also works on education projects for award-winning charities and helps run a tiny family video production company. She can often be spotted catching story ideas whilst walking in the woods with her dog.

Her debut book for children, Rhamni Finds her Wings, wonderfully illustrated in colour by Keith Turner, is published sustainably by HoneyCraft.org. It’s the latest in their MiniBEAST series aimed at getting children into nature. Part funded by The National Forest, it was launched at the Timber Festival. The book is on sale from www.Honeycraft.org and is available to borrow from every library in The National Forest.

Awarded a mentorship in 2020 by Writing East Midlands, Fiona had the privilege of being mentored by children’s author, Ally Sherrick, on her time travelling adventure, The Time Heist. It was subsequently long listed for the Bath Children’s Novel Award and Guppy Books open submission competition. She has also had work shortlisted in the Write Mentor Novel Award and I am in Print competition.

Fiona's mentee journey

It was amazing to work with Ally Sherrick as my mentor on my children’s book. She gave me such detailed, constructive feedback and really challenged and supported me to get to the heart of my story and to develop it in ways I hadn’t thought of. She was particularly helpful in identifying and suggesting solutions to the plot holes I’d fallen into and tips on building and maintaining tension, drama and developing compelling characters.

She gave me excellent book recommendations and offered support and understanding. It was wonderful to have her take my work seriously and the whole process gave my confidence a boost and improved my writing craft and story immensely. We’ve also become friends since and she continues to champion my work.