Clare C-Saunders was born in Derbyshire, England where she currently lives in a woodland cottage with her family. She has Celtic ancestry and the old folklore originating from around the British Isles inspires her story telling today. After publishing a series of children’s books she intends to try her hand at a rom-com set in Castleton, Derbyshire and is looking forward to promoting this at her local book festivals in the years to come. Clare regularly takes part in the Derby Book Festival. You may also catch her at local library events from time to time. She is also a proud member of The Society of Authors and enjoys attending meetings with the East Midlands branch in Nottingham, UK.

“Charlotte & Arthur’s Adventures” is a middle grade book series Clare is currently working on with her publisher, Fisher King Publishing ltd. The first two published books in this magical trilogy have featured on an Amazon top 100 best sellers list. The third is currently in editing and Clare hopes to publish this later in 2025.

“Yule & the Helter Skelter” is the first in the series and is available to buy worldwide in all good book stores and on Amazon in paperback, kindle and audiobook. This promises to be a festive winter wonderland treat for young readers who love all things holiday season and with 25 chapters can also be enjoyed every year as a family advent calendar countdown.

The next book in this series is “The Pumpkin Portal”, this will thrill Halloween fans. It’s a fun, magical adventure featuring a folklore inspired Pumpkin King named Tricky Jack, who loves to trick people into sink bogs with his magical lanterns. He’s cast a spell over the Wheel World to make it his season of Samhain/Halloween all year round. Follow Charlotte and Arthur as they battle evil on their broomsticks to save their 16 year old childminder, Amara, after she is whisked away from them at the pumpkin patch. This is available now in paperback and ebook. Audio book to follow.

Clare is currently polishing the third novel in this middle grade series called “The Crystal Dragon Egg.” This will complete the middle grade book trilogy.

A future planned project is the spin off young adult series called, RAMA (Royal Academy of Magical Arts) – this will contain teen/young adult themes, allowing readers to grow up with the books. Readers will be able to get a feel for this in the epilogue of The Crystal Dragon Egg.

“Seven Nights of Snuggles” was Clare’s first book. Her daughter Rose illustrated the entire book while she was only 10 years old. This reached number 2 on the Amazon best sellers list for children’s fiction in 2017.

Before Clare went down the author path, she enjoyed an extensive acting career spanning over 20 years in stage, television and film, taking her around the globe. Highlights include a British short comedy film, called “Flush,” which previewed The Blair Witch Project at the Odeon, Leicester Square. She was the lead female in a Cannes Lions Silver Award winning commercial for Nescafe. She understudied the lead female roles and played a Phantom in the West End and Broadway cast European tour of The Rocky Horror Show. Another highlight was singing in front of celebrities at The Evening Standard Film Awards after-show party and royalty at Ascott with her band.

Over her career Clare particularly enjoyed her work in children’s shows and pantomimes, working with a few celebrities along the way! She regularly performed with an award-winning London theatre company, playing lead roles in children’s shows including Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, Belle in Beauty and the Beast and the title roles in Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, to name but a few. During these shows Clare built up an understanding of what children love, as she talked to audience members after performances during meet and greets and whilst signing their programmes. It was through her work with her own children’s entertainment company that she discovered her love of writing stories as well as performing them.

Other writing work includes a pantomime version of Snow White and a children’s internet safety campaign series called “The Internet Wizard” both of which she wrote, produced and directed for her local radio station, “Erewash Sound,” where she also hosted “The Sunday Breakfast Show” from 2019-2022.

Today, when not writing, Clare can be found recording voice overs in her home recording studio, working under her stage name, Clare Cunliffe. Clients have included Craig Revel Horwood’s production of “Strictly Ballroom the Musical”, a celebrity led cast of Aladdin, and other well known brands, such as Holland & Barrett. You can hear Clare perform her own audiobooks of Seven Nights of Snuggles and Yule and the Helter Skelter, available on Audible now.