Rachael King is a writer, award-winning reviewer and former literary festival director living in Ōtautahi. Her novels for children include: Secrets at Red Rocks, which won the Esther Glen Medal in 2013 (as Red Rocks) and has been adapted for an Emmy-nominated television series; and The Grimmelings, which won Booksellers’ Choice Award and was named one of the New York Public Libraries Best Books of 2025. Song of the Saltings, published worldwide this year, is her first book for young adults. All three novels reflect her love for, and obsession with, Scottish folklore – the weirder the better. She is also the author of the Violet and the Velvets series for younger readers, which draws on her experience as a teenage bassist in rock bands. Rachael’s adult novels, The Sound of Butterflies and Magpie Hall have together been translated onto nine languages.