About

BIOGRAPHY

M. G. Leonard is an award-winning, bestselling writer of children’s books. Her books have been translated into over forty languages and a TV series based on the Beetle Boy trilogy is currently in development. She is a vice president for charity Buglife and her beetles have appeared on Blue Peter, Springwatch Unsprung, Countryfile, Meet the Author with James Naughtie, Sky News, and featured in the BBC documentary, The Bug Couple. Her newest project is Adventures on Trains.

Maya lives in Brighton with her husband, two sons and pet beetles. She spent her early career in the music industry running Setanta Records, an independent record label and managing bands, most notably The Divine Comedy. After leaving the music industry, she trained as an actor, dabbling in directing and producing as well as performing, before becoming a digital producer for Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre and Harry Potter West End.

Maya is one of the founding authors of #Authors4Oceans, with Lauren St John, campaigning to reduce single-use plastics.

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

Hello, my name is Maya

I live in a wonderful place called Brighton, in England, situated between the sea and the South Downs. It's beautiful and so are the people. 

I love listening to music. Every moment of my life has a song, every day a soundtrack. If I'm writing, I'm usually listening to Philip Glass or Max Richter.

My real name is Maya Gabrielle but my pen name is M. G. Leonard. I created a pen name because my eldest son and I don’t share a surname, and I made him a promise that if my books got published I’d take his middle name as my pen surname. I think it is important to keep promises. When you talk to me, call me Maya. When talking about my writing, please call me M. G. Leonard. Thanks.

My stories are for young people, or people who are young at heart, who embrace nature and its wild and crazy majesty. But right now, for me, it’s beetles that are blowing my mind. There isn’t anything as wild, crazy or majestic as the beetle.

And yes it's true that I used to be scared of insects, but now, I love them and have lots of pet beetles.