Janis Mackay is an award-winning author, winning the Scottish Children’s Book Awards 2013 with her novel The Accidental Time Traveller. With eleven books for children she has recently made the shift into writing for adults. Her first published novel, which came out in 2025, is On a Northern Shore, by Luath Press. It is described as a haunted love story steeped in Celtic folklore. Janis is a storyteller, writer and creative writing tutor. She often weaves folklore into her fiction. She is currently working on a creative non-fiction book, bringing together memoir and the folklore of the Cailleach. Janis is from Edinburgh, has travelled widely, worked as a drama teacher and now creative writing tutor. She runs a one year novel writing course in Edinburgh, and lives in the Scottish Borders.