AMANDA LEES was born in Hong Kong. She is the author of the bestselling satirical novels Selling Out and Secret Admirer (Pan) which have both received critical acclaim and have been translated into several languages. Her major YA thriller trilogy, Kumari, Goddess of Gotham, was nominated for the Guardian Children's Book Prize and the Doncaster Book Award. It also featured as Redhouse Book of The Month and Lovereading4kids Book of the Month. Amanda appears regularly on BBC radio and LBC and was a contracted writer to the hit series Weekending on Radio 4. She has written for, or contributed to, the Evening Standard, The Times, New Woman, US Cosmopolitan and Bulgaria's Vagabond magazine. Amanda has conducted a love coaching phone-in from the sofa of Richard & Judy and wooed the viewers on Channel 5 Live. She won an award at the Hungarian Györ Film Festival for a short film she produced, a psychological thriller called Pros and Cons.