Bio

Ally Kennen started to write Beast while she was working on an MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University in England. She was struggling with an adult novel that she had been working on for five years. "It was riddled with plots and sub -plots and symbolism," said Ally. When she discovered she was pregnant, she set the project aside.

She started to write again, when her tutor suggested she try something new. "I decided to write in the first person and in the present tense," said Ally, "to make it difficult for myself to introduce too many new elements. Everyone says you should write about what you know, and having spent my childhood with fostered teenagers, I thought this might be the way to go. I was obsessed with the Exmoor beast as a child. All that rustling in the hedges... It seemed like good fodder for a story."

Previous to this, Ally worked in many different fields.  A singer and songwriter, she toured with a dance band to Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, and Budapest.  She was also an archeologist, museum assistant, and library assistant, amongst other things.

Ally Kennen lives with her family in Bristol, England.