Gina Antonelli, a published author, and illustrator studied art and earned a BFA in illustration and Motion Design from Cornish College of the Arts. She then built a career around children, working in many schools, and her students inspire both her writing and her art. Her engagement in both fields extends to her off-hours hobbies, where she collects books, sewing buttons, and movable type for her printing presses.
Suddenly Scilly is her first novel, though the series will extend to five books to cover all of the World War Two years. For three summers, she traveled to the beautiful Isles of Scilly to learn all that she could about its history and its friendly, welcoming people before putting pen to paper.
When Gina isn’t writing or drawing, she spends time with her pampered pooch, Clementine, four cats, a tortoise, and the newest family member Hedda Gobbler, a once-abandoned domestic turkey. After weeks of work as Hedda Gobbler’s personal crossing guard, Gina built an enclosure, completing it just hours before her latest flight to the UK. Without having to worry about becoming Thanksgiving dinner, Hedda is free to spend her days napping in the sun, taking dust baths, and chatting with the birds that visit her yard.
Gina, of course, spends her days teaching and writing.
