Kit Berry spent most of her adult life in Dorset working as a school teacher in Weymouth. Inspired by the beauty of the Dorset landscape and local folklore, Kit wrote a series of books for young adults. She started very small, self-publishing the books and selling in local shops and on Amazon. But the series captured adults' imaginations as well as teenagers'. Stonewylde became a huge cult success across the UK and spread to the USA and Europe too, the three books selling in their thousands.

Kit was able to leave teaching and concentrate on marketing her books, travelling all over the UK and several times to the Netherlands to give talks about Stonewylde and her inspiration. Kit's husband has set up a social networking online community to cope with the many readers and fans who contact her, and Moongazy Publishing also produces, by popular request, Stonewylde greetings cards and T-shirts, with further merchandise planned. Fans have regular get-togethers all over the country and the last one attracted about ninety people. Kit sends out a newsletter eight times a year and has been featured in many national magazines.

The worldwide rights for the three books and a further two in the series have recently been bought by a major publisher, and this has enabled Kit to return to what she enjoys most - writing. She's now working on the fourth and fifth books which her new publishers plan to release in hardback, and her agent is talking about selling the film rights too!

Kit is delighted to be invited to speak at the Charmouth Literary Festival, and will talk about her transition from local writer with a few hundred books to sell, to author with a six-figure deal behind her and a bright future ahead. She'll also speak of how the landscape and magic of Dorset inspired her work, enabling her to create a huge fictional estate which is a composite of all her favourite places. And yes, Charmouth is in Stonewylde too! Kit's parents and younger sisters once lived in the village and she spent many happy times visiting them.

Website: www.stonewylde.com

Community: www.stonewylde.net

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