About Me

A. E. Daly photoI’m a writer of children’s and YA fiction currently seeking representation for my middle-grade novel Dreamdogs, which was joint winner of the 2021 Bath Children’s Novel Award.  Described by judges as “scary and exciting and moving and highly original” and “a pageturner with a sinister atmosphere, real sense of mystery… thrilling to read,” Dreamdogs is a speculative thriller about five children who discover that their remote moorland villages have been the target of a ruthless years-long sleep experiment.

I’ve also written Devil-Glass, a contemporary teen time travel mystery featuring a vanished aunt, a capricious inventor and a grim family secret, which was longlisted for the 2020 Mslexia Children’s & YA Novel Competition.

I’m currently working on a historical YA novel, The Ice Cauldron – a high-stakes science-fantasy Arctic adventure which I once described as ‘steampunk Franklin Expedition for kids.’  It’s more fun than that sounds, honestly, but there’s quite a lot of frostbite.

In 2018 I received a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award, and I’ve also been shortlisted for the 2020 Kelpies Prize for Writing.  I love ghost stories, comic books, vintage cameras and abandoned buildings, and I live and work in Scotland.

My winner’s interview for the 2021 Bath Children’s Novel Award is now online.

For a full list of writing achievements, please see Awards & Competitions.  If you’d like to get in touch, the details are on my Contact page.