Forbidden Stone (Abbott) - Author Bio

Author Bio
• Birth—1952
• Where—Cleveland, Ohio, USA
• Raised—Fairfield, Connecticut
• Education—B.A., University of Connecticut
• Currently—lives in Trumball, Connecticut


Tony Abbott is an American author of nearly 100 children's books. His most popular work is the book series The Secrets of Droon, which includes over 40 books. He has sold over 12 million copies of his books and they have been translated into several other languages, including Italian, Spanish, Korean, French, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, and Russian. He has also written the bestseller "Firegirl".

Abbott was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1952. His father was a university professor and had an extensive library of books which became one of Abbott's first sources of literature. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Connecticut where he went through elementary school and high school.

He attended the University of Connecticut, and after studying both music and psychology, decided to study English and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor's degree in English literature. He attended the workshops of Patricia Reilly Giff to further develop his writing after college.

When he began reading bedtime stories to his children, the spark of writing he had had for so many years finally turned to children’s books. After many failures, his first published book, Danger Guys (1994), was written while taking a writing class with renowned children’s author, Patricia Reilly Giff. That book began the Danger Guy series and was followed by five more books (1994-96).

Since then Abbott has written over ninety-five books for readers ages 6 to 14, including many series—The Secret of Droon, The Haunting of Derek Stone, Underworlds, Goofballs, to name a few. The Copenicus Legacy, starting in 2014, is his newest. He has also written novels for older readers, including Kringle, Firegirl, The Postcard, and Lunch-Box Dream.

The author currently lives in Trumbull, Connecticut, with his wife, two daughters, and two dogs. Tony had one brother and two sisters. (Adapted from Wikipedia and the author's website. Retrieved 1/23/2014.)