Kate Jackson has worked as a journalist for more than 20 years on publications including The Learning Press, The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald and Britain's Mail on Sunday. As mum to Sam, Emma and Jimmy, she looked to pass on her love of literature to her children. But she found that, while there were lots of fantastic adventure books written to engage young boys, there were very few action-packed stories to inspire her daughter to read. So began the Emma and Maddie project - an adventure series aimed at 7-10 year-old girls who are more interested in climbing trees and scraping knees than schoolyard bickering and boy trouble. Kate grew up in a house very like Maddie's in the English countryside and lived for many years in a house very like Emma's in Australia. The 45-year-old now lives in Noosa, Queensland with her husband Nigel, her three rapidly-growing children and a beautiful fluffy Kelpie called Gus.