Patrick Ness is the internationally and New York Times bestselling author of A Monster Calls, which won both the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal, was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, and was made into a major motion picture for which he wrote the screenplay. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed and bestselling Chaos Walking trilogy, More Than This, Release, Different for Boys, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Burn, and Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody. His many accolades include two Carnegie Medals, an Olivier Award, the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Book Trust Teenage Prize, and the Costa Children’s Book Award. Ness lives in London and his latest book for young adults is Piper at the Gates of Dusk (2026).
Norma Butikofer is a London-based actress who trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She’s an authentic New Yorker with a strong range of delivery and a great English accent. Audiobook work includes Taylor Swift: The Whole Story by Chas Newkey-Burden, Prize Women by Caroline Lea, and Here for the Drama, by Kate Bromley. She has appeared in many stage productions, including Jack and the Beanstalk at the Lyric Hammersmith, 1797 A Mariner's Tale with History Riot, and A Midsummer Night's Dream for Insane Root Theatre Co.