Skinner, Nicola: - Nicola Skinner was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where she spent an idyllic early childhood mostly watching some very dramatic telenovelas, reading comics, and going to the beach. When she was nine, she swapped all of that to attend boarding school in Great Britain, which didn't have beaches, unfortunately, but where she learned a love for books and writing. A former journalist and copywriter, she is now a full-time author of children's books.