Shirley Duke has been writing in a variety of children's genres for twelve years. Before she began writing, she taught science and ESL at the elementary and secondary levels. In creating Unthinkable, a YA horror story in the Night Fall™ series, she drew on her high school ESL teaching experience for insight into what teens really like to read. Horror is a new genre for Shirley, and she found it exciting to create the special abilities of Sophie and Omar. She blogs about science books and suggests an accompanying activity at SimplyScience. Her blog includes some of Lerner's newest nonfiction. Unthinkable is her first book with Lerner.