Mary Hoffman finds that Italy and Italians often creep into her stories, as they do in her teen series STRAVAGANZA (Bloomsbury) and her historical novels THE FALCONER'S KNOT, TROUBADOUR and DAVID. She also writes for younger children, including the AMAZING GRACE stories and the GREAT BIG BOOKS series with Ros Asquith. She has written over a hundred books and lives in a converted barn in Oxfordshire, with her husband. They have three grown-up daughters. Follow Mary at www.maryhoffman.co.uk or on Twitter: @MARYMHOFFMAN.