Laura Noakes

OH NO WAY!!! That’s so cool, thank you Aradhna ❤️❤️❤️

Laura, a white woman with long light brown hair, stands in her garden holding a sign reading ‘Stop taking the PIP’.

The government wants to cut PIP (Personal Independence Payments) for thousands of disabled people across the country. These cuts will decimate the disabled community’s ability to exist. People will DIE. Stop #TakingThePIP

A beautiful gold gilded brown notebook, held in front of some spring blooms

Saw this beauty and it had the same name as a very important place in my latest story so I decided buying it was ✨FATE✨

(It is now the worldbuilding/lore journal + full of magic, wyverns, post pegasuses (my particular fav), salamanders and an enchanted walking stick!)

Laura, a white lady with blonde hair, smiles at the camera. Her garden is in the background

Five days, ten schools, hundreds of books signed + a very heart-happy but joint-sore author clocking out for the long bank holiday weekend.

Laura holding a proof copy of the book The Girl Who Raced the World by Nat Harrison, in her garden. In the background, Spring flowers are in bloom. The cover of the book features the sea, a purple pink sky under a full moon, and a train and a ship. Main character, Maggie is illustrated in the centre.

I sped through this proof as though I’d made a wager to finish it as fast as possible—and what a journey it was! From the bustling streets of London to the far corners of the world, this story is brimming with heart, history, and high stakes. I LOVED IT. @piccadilly-press.bsky.social

A photo of Laura’s google doc of her latest book, focusing in on the words ‘the end’

The terrible, no good, definitely awful draft 1 of my middle grade fantasy is done! I’ve been thinking about this story for the best part of a year + it’s the fastest project I’ve ever written. Now to not think about it for a few days!

Thank you, she's already trying to escape the crate!

Laura stands with Stratton School students at the opening at their new library on World Book Day

Laura signs books at Stratton School on World Book Day

Visiting my old school, @strattonschool, for World Book Day was an incredible honour—and even more special because I got to open the new library! Walking the same halls, but this time as an author, was truly surreal. Huge thanks to the amazing students and staff for the warm welcome! 📚✨

A child dressed up as Cosima, the main character in Laura's books!

World Book Day 2025 was an absolute dream! Seeing kids dressed up as characters I’ve created is an honour I will never get over—truly magical. Here’s my favourite WBD costume so far! 🎭📚✨

So glad she is home + (fingers crossed) on the road to recovery. She is in a crate for the foreseeable and not allowed to run, jump, play or do stairs. So I will be writing my next book by her side, getting glared at/spat/scratched for enforcing the vets rules.

Laura’s calico cat, Scout, in a cone of shame + a crate post surgery

Our sweet Scouter had some pretty urgent surgery earlier this week, because (and I still can’t quite believe this!) she has feline patella luxation AKA dislocating kneecaps. Obviously dodgy joints run in the family!

Writing is amazing because last week I was writing a teenage sleuth determined to solve a murder no-one else believed happened & this week I'm coming up with enchanted mobility aids in a magic version of London.

One of my lovely critique partners thought I was intentionally using US spellings as a clever plot device/to target the US market but I am (a) not that clever and (b) failed to realise that my word was set to US spellings. 😂

(In all seriousness I’m being well looked after by my husband, Doctor Scout and pain meds! Dislocations are just part of the hypermobility deal sometimes. 🤷‍♀️)

Laura is lying in bed wearing a massive leg splint

My good knee (I know, THE BETRAYAL!) decided to go out out without my socket today. Not only do I get to sport this very stylish ankle to thigh leg splint for the next week, but I also managed to chuck an entire bowl of Shreddies mid-dislocation. Fuming.

I just found my cat sitting in the open air fryer. SHE’S FINE, it wasn’t on or hot. She wasn’t even licking the leftover sausage grease. Didn’t think I could be more shocked post @thetraitors.bsky.social but here we are. 🤷‍♀️

a smiling photo of Laura, who has long brown hair and is wearing a red cardigan.

Over 2,000 of you borrowed Cosima Unfortunate Steals a Star from libraries last year! Growing up, I spent hours in libraries devouring Horrible Histories. Now, seeing my stories on their shelves is the honour of a lifetime. Thank you for making this dream real.

A throwback photo of Scout, Laura’s cat, as a tiny kitten, fast asleep on Laura’s lap

Laura’s calico cat, Scout, wrapped in a yellow blanket!

It’s Scout’s three-year-gotchaversary today + I am so blooming grateful for our little calico girl from Carlisle. She is cantankerous + hilarious + dreamie obsessed and we love her more than anything.

Shout out to my fellow chronically ill/disabled folk whose symptoms ALWAYS flare when the weather turns cold suddenly. I am currently held together by KT tape + codeine 🤷‍♀️ 😂

I know I’m a billion years late to this, but #TheTraitors is blooming good isn’t it?

(Side note: this very speedy route to publishing followed years of writing, rewriting and scrapping projects, 100s of no’s, and more rejections then you could shake a stick at!)

For writers whose New Years resolution is to query agents: that was my goal in 2022. By the end of January, I’d snagged my amazing agent. By May, I found out my book was going to be published. So go for it. Take a chance. The worst that can happen is a no. ✨

Laura, a white woman with long brown hair, stands in front of a Christmas tree and holds up her books: Cosima Unfortunate Steals a Star and Cosima Unfortunate Foils a Fraud.

If you’re stuck for what to get your favourite 8-12 year old this Christmas, can I humbly suggest my books: the COSIMA UNFORTUNATE duology!

They’re Ocean’s 11 meets Oliver Twist starring disabled kids + the first book is set around the festive season so would make a perfect Yuletide gift. 🎄

This is definitely the three hours of sleep talking, but I genuinely think that almost EVERY movie could be improved on by the addition of a muppet.

So thrilled to be taking part in the Children's Writers & Illustrators Festival 2025 & tickets are available now! (in fact there’s an early bird discount of 15% that’s running until the end of Nov, if you use the code EARLY25 at checkout) shorturl.at/0TtB3

AI didn’t write your favorite book.

Scout, Laura’s calico cat, looks at the camera wrapped in a cosy yellow blanket

Oh to be a cat burrito-ed in a yellow blanket. ☺️

Front Row - Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, Celebrity Children's Books and the Art and Writing of Maud Sulter - BBC Sounds Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, and celebrity children's books.

I went on BBC Radio 4: Front Row last night, to talk about celebrity children's authors. It's available now and we start around fifteen minutes in.

Grateful to have been asked, as a non-famous commoner, lol.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Never forget: READING FOR PLEASURE has the biggest positive impact of any factor on children's life chances. So never stop sharing books with kids. Never stop reading to them, and helping them to read. Never stop changing lives. #literacy #kidlit #books