Alex Bell (writer)

Bell grew up in the New Forest District of Hampshire.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/author-interviews/alex-bell-i-felt-freedom-be-able-do-whatever-i-wanted-do-643081|title=Alex Bell: 'I felt a freedom to be able to do whatever I wanted to do'|work=The Bookseller|first=Fiona|last=Noble|date=22 September 2017|accessdate=1 January 2025}} She studied Law at the University of Southampton, graduating in 2007.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/education/1565946.southampton-university-graduation-list-2007-part-3/|title=Southampton University Graduation List 2007 Part 3|work=Southern Daily Echo|date=3 July 2007|accessdate=1 January 2025}} She then began an LPC qualification, but dropped out due to a lack of interest, opting instead to work part-time at the Citizens Advice Bureau while she pursued writing professionally.{{Cite web|url=https://archive.gnofhorror.com/young-blood/author-interview-alex-bell-gets-all-frozen-charlotte.html|title=Author Interview: Alex Bell gets all Frozen Charlotte|work=Ginger Nuts of Horror|first=Tony|last=Jones|date=6 September 2017|accessdate=18 March 2025}}

At age 19, Bell signed with agent Carolyn Whitaker. For her second attempt at novel-writing, Bell landed her first deal with Gollancz, through which she published her debut adult horror novel The Ninth Circle in April 2008.{{Cite web|url=https://www.locusmag.com/2008/Issue07_NewAndNotable.html|title=New and Notable Books|work=Locus|date=July 2008|accessdate=18 March 2025}} The Ninth Circle was nominated for the Locus Award for Best First Novel.{{Cite web|url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/award_category_year.cgi?349+2009|title=Award Category: 2009 Best First Novel (Locus Poll Award)|work=ISFDB|accessdate=18 March 2025}} Her second published novel Jasmyn followed in 2009,{{Cite web|url=https://fantasyliterature.com/reviews/jasmyn/|title=Jasmyn: An excellent grown-up fairy tale|work=Fantasy Literature|first=Kelly|last=Lasiter|date=12 June 2009|accessdate=18 March 2025}} which was longlisted for a British Fantasy Award.{{Cite web|url=https://hellnotes.com/british-fantasy-awards-2010-the-long-list/|title=British Fantasy Awards 2010: The Long List|work=Hellnotes|author=Dave|date=19 March 2010|accessdate=18 March 2025}} She then moved to Headline for her first young adult (YA) Lex Trent duology.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebooksmugglers.com/2010/02/chat-with-an-author-interview-with-alex-bell.html|title=Chat With An Author: Interview With Alex Bell|work=The Book Smugglers|first=Ana|last=Grilo|date=11 February 2010|accessdate=1 January 2025}}{{Cite web|url=https://fantasyliterature.com/reviews/lex-trent-versus-the-gods/|title=Lex Trent versus the Gods: Imaginative YA adventure|work=Fantasy Literature|first=Amanda|last=Rutter|date=25 January 2010|accessdate=18 March 2025}}

In 2014, Stripes Publishing (a Little Tiger Group imprint) invited Bell to contribute a novel to its Red Eye horror series. Bell came up with Frozen Charlotte, a young adult (YA) thriller about antique dolls.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/dec/16/review-alex-bell-frozen-charlotte|title=Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell - review|work=The Guardian|date=16 December 2014|accessdate=1 January 2025}}{{Cite web|url=https://yabookscentral.com/featured-review-frozen-charlotte-alex-bell/|title=Featured Review: Frozen Charlotte (Alex Bell)|work=YA Books Central|first1=Beth|last1=Edwards|first2=Karen|last2=Yingling|date=26 December 2016|accessdate=1 January 2025}} Frozen Charlotte was a 2016 Zoella Book Club pick for WH Smith.{{Cite web|url=https://www.unitedbypop.com/books/young-adult-books/zoella-book-club-2016/|title=The Zoella Book Club Is Back For 2016 And It's Full Of Cracking Reads|work=United by Pop|first=Verity|last=Harris|date=21 October 2016|accessdate=1 January 2025}} After readers expressed interest in learning more about the backstory to Frozen Charlotte, Bell wrote an Edwardian Isle of Skye-set prequel titled Charlotte Says, which was published in 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/stripes-scoops-frozen-charlotte-prequel-and-two-books-new-series-bell-503556|title=Stripes signs Frozen Charlotte prequel|work=The Bookseller|first=Heloise|last=Wood|date=9 March 2017|accessdate=1 January 2025}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.unitedbypop.com/books/young-adult-books/frozen-charlotte-alex-bell/|title=Zoella's Book Club Just Got Ghoulish, Grim And Ghastly|work=United by Pop|author=Dannii Elle|date=3 September 2017|accessdate=1 January 2025}} The Haunting (2016){{Cite web|url=https://100percentrock.com/2016/08/book-review-the-haunting-by-alex-bell/|title=BOOK REVIEW: The Haunting by Alex Bell|work=100% Rock Magazine|first=Stephanie|last=O'Connell|date=30 August 2016|accessdate=18 March 2025}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2016/jun/14/the-haunting-alex-bell-review|title=The Haunting by Alex Bell - review|work=The Guardian|date=14 June 2016|accessdate=18 March 2025}} and The Lighthouse (2022) would also form part of the Red Eye series.

Then with Faber Children's in a three-book deal,{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/faber-children-s-buys-mg-adventure-bell-329736|title=Faber Children's buys MG adventure by Bell|work=The Bookseller|first=Charlotte|last=Eyre|date=11 May 2016|accessdate=1 January 2025}} Bell went in a more light-hearted direction with a middle-grade fantasy adventure series, starting with The Polar Bear Explorers' Club in 2017. The Polar Bear Explorers' Club was named Waterstones Book of the Month{{Cite web|url=https://www.arenaillustration.com/news/2017/11/polar-bears-explorers-club-illustrated-by-tomislav-tomic/|title=Polar Bears Explorers' Club illustrated by Tomislav Tomic|work=Arena Illustration|date=2 November 2017|accessdate=18 March 2025}} and longlisted for the Carnegie Medal.{{Cite web|url=https://locusmag.com/2019/02/2019-carnegie-and-greenaway-medal-longlists/|title=2019 Carnegie and Greenaway Medal Longlists|work=Locus|date=19 February 2019|accessdate=18 March 2025}} Rounding out the initial trilogy with The Forbidden Expedition (also known as Explorers on Witch Mountain) and Explorers on Black Ice Bridge, the series expanded to six novels.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/alex-bell/|title=Alex Bell|work=Fantastic Fiction|accessdate=1 January 2025}}{{Cite web|url=https://booksupnorth.com/kids-book-review-the-ocean-squid-explorers-club/|title=Kid's Book Review: The Ocean Squid Explorers' Club|work=Books Up North|first=Sarah|last=Tyson|date=17 January 2021|accessdate=18 March 2025}}

In 2019, Bell published the standalone novels Music and Malice in Hurricane Town and A Most Peculiar Toy Factory via Barrington Stoke.{{Cite web|url=https://www.letterpressproject.co.uk/inspiring-young-readers/2019-10-30/a-most-peculiar-toy-factory|title=A Most Peculiar Toy Factory by Alex Bell, illustrated by Nan Lawson|work=The Letterpress Project|first=Terry|last=Potter|date=30 October 2019|accessdate=18 March 2025}}

After completing The Polar Bear Explorers, Rock the Boat Books (a Oneworld Publications imprint) commissioned Bell to write a middle-grade horror trilogy,{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/rock-the-boat-snaps-up-spectacularly-spooky-middle-grade-fantasy-series-by-bell|title=Rock the Boat snaps up 'spectacularly spooky' middle-grade fantasy series by Bell|work=The Bookseller|first=Lauren|last=Brown|date=21 July 2023|accessdate=1 January 2025}} starting with The Train of Dark Wonders in October 2023. The second installment The Hunt for the Cursed Unicorn followed in 2024, with the third set to be published in 2025. In addition, she wrote The Glorious Race of Magical Beasts, published in 2024.{{Cite web|url=https://www.readingzone.com/news/alex-bell-s-race-of-magical-beasts/|title=Alex Bell's race of magical beasts|work=ReadingZone|date=16 February 2024|accessdate=1 January 2025}}

Bell also began writing under the name Alexandra Bell in 2021; The Winter Garden, an adult Victorian fantasy novel published via Del Rey (a Cornerstone UK imprint), marked Bell's debut title under the new moniker. The Winter Garden was compared to Robert Dinsdale's The Toymakers (2018) and Natasha Pulley's The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (2015).{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/del-rey-publish-one-bell-1244023|title=Del Rey to publish Bell's Victorian tale|work=The Bookseller|first=Tamsin|last=Heckett|date=12 March 2021|accessdate=1 January 2025}}

• Lex Trent Versus the Gods (2010)
• Fighting with Fire (2011)

• Frozen Charlotte (2014)
• Charlotte Says (2017) {{small|(prequel)}}

• The Polar Bear Explorers' Club (2017)
• The Forbidden Expedition (2018) {{small|(also known as Explorers on Witch Mountain)}}
• Explorers on Black Ice Bridge (2019)
• The Ocean Squid Explorers' Club (2020)
• Explorers at Pirate Island (2021)
• Explorers at Stardust City (2022)

• The Train of Dark Wonders (2023)
• The Hunt for the Cursed Unicorn (2024)
• Escape from the Castle of Illusions (2025)

• The Ninth Circle (2008)
• Jasmyn (2009)
• The Haunting (2016) {{small|(Red Eye)}}
• A Most Peculiar Toy Factory (2019)
• Music and Malice in Hurricane Town (2019)
• The Lighthouse (2022) {{small|(Red Eye)}}
• The Glorious Race of Magical Beasts (2025)

• The Winter Garden (2021)
• The White Octopus Hotel (2025)

• "The Fifth Bedroom" in The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women (2012), edited by Marie O'Regan
• "The Devil in Red" in X7: A Seven Deadly Sins Anthology (2013), edited by Alex Davis
• "The Confession" in Tales from the Vatican Vault (2015), edited by David V. Barrett

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Category:Living people

Category:1986 births

Category:Alumni of the University of Southampton

Category:British women horror writers

Category:British women science fiction and fantasy writers

Category:British women writers of young adult literature

Category:English horror writers

Category:English women children's writers

Category:English women novelists

Category:People from New Forest District

Category:Writers from Hampshire

Category:Writers from Southampton