Katie Kirby, who lives in Hove, is the author of the Lottie Brooks series, diary-style fiction for pre-teens (aged nine-12) which follows 11 3/4-year-old Lottie Brooks as she navigates the perils of growing up.
Katie was the number two bestselling children’s fiction author in the UK market in 2025, and 2 million copies have sold across the Lottie Brooks series globally.
The 46-year-old grew up in Worthing and after graduating from Bournemouth University, moved to London where she worked in advertising. After a decade in the capital, and pregnant with her eldest son, she returned to the south coast with her husband.
In 2013, while juggling a baby and toddler, Katie started Hurrah for Gin, a funny and frank online blog chronicling the trials and tribulations of parenthood, alongside stick figure illustrations.
“In all the other parenting blogs at the time everyone seemed to be having a whale of a time,” Katie said. “It was that rose-tinted glamorous side of parenthood.
“I had just been made redundant from work, and I started writing and drawing about it as a bit of a release. People were finding it quite refreshing because I was saying things people weren’t hearing.”
Off the back of the success of the blog, Katie penned three books: Hurrah for Gin, which became a Sunday Times Bestseller, The Daily Struggles of Archie Adams and Reluctant Adult, which were published by Yellow Kite, the non-fiction imprint of Hodder and Stoughton.
Katie was then approached by Puffin, the children’s imprint of Penguin, which had seen her blog and books and felt her style of humour and illustration would work for children’s fiction.
“I’ve always wanted to write for children, so I was really happy when they contacted me,” she said.
“I was a huge fan of Judy Blume when I was a tweenager because she talked about a lot of the stuff people didn’t talk about like friendship and family troubles.
“I wanted to create something that I would have wanted at that age because there isn’t a lot out there. There is a lot for young readers but not for that difficult in-betweeny stage when you’re just starting secondary school, starting puberty and finding your way as a child moving into the more adult world of secondary school.”
The first book in the series, The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks, was published in 2021 and the ninth, The Seriously Epic Holiday of Lottie Brooks, was released on April 9. The tenth book will be out in October this year.
The series is set in Brighton and businesses like Boho Gelato and Snooper’s Paradise feature in the books.
“I often have people say they’ve done the Lottie Brooks tour of Brighton,” she said.
Katie who was a “big diary-keeper” in her childhood and adolescence says that her own memories shaped her protagonist.
“She’s the everyday girl: not super popular, clever, pretty or sporty. She makes a lot of mistakes and embarrasses herself but lives through it and is funny and endearing and tries her best.
“I wanted to create a character everyone sees themselves in. Girls say to me that she feels like a friend helping them through things, from parent to friendship problems and the non-glamorous sides. Lottie is just herself; being normal, making mistakes and learning.”
The latest book in the series sees Lottie navigate ski school, fondu and family dramas as she takes to the slopes on a skiing holiday.
“She hadn’t been skiing before, and she is very accident-prone and clumsy so I have been quite keen to do a skiing book for a while,” Katie said. “There are plenty of comedy moments.”
Katie says her readership, which is largely girls aged nine to 12, is “amazing”.
“I love writing for younger readers,” Katie said. “When I had my blog, it was quite a lot of putting yourself out there. Then it got a lot of followers, and it feels quite exposing writing about yourself, especially when you get criticism.
“With this audience, I can have loads of fun with it and be as silly as I like. It’s such a lovely age to write for. They don’t have a lot of the hang ups you get as a teenager; they’re always so excited to come along to the events and such a joy to connect with.
“I feel a bit like Taylor Swift at the moment because they often make me friendship bracelets so I often come home with them halfway up my arm.”
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