This summer on Penguin Teen, we’re celebrating all the amazing debut books hitting shelves and the incredible authors who wrote them!

This week we’re reading Astrid Scholte’s Four Dead Queens. Astrid Scholte’s debut made QUITE the splash last February, and now she’s here to tell you all about it herself!

Hello! I’m Astrid Scholte and my debut YA fantasy, Four Dead Queens, was released in February this year. It’s an Agatha Christie style murder mystery set in a fantasy world where everyone is hiding a secret, each one more deadly than the next! It’s a standalone novel full of twists and turns to keep readers on their toes. One of my main goals in writing 4DQ was to create a predominantly female cast of powerful women who are supportive of each other and work together to uphold their peaceful nation. Peaceful, that is, until the queens are all murdered!

I’ve loved storytelling ever since I was little, deciding to work in the magic of movies at age eight after seeing Jurassic Park. I studied 3D animation at university and since then have worked in the animation and visual effects industry for over ten years as both an artist and artist manager. While my workplace has been like any other, my colleagues have included 10 feet tall blue Avatars, a destructive giant gorilla, ravenous dinosaurs and tap-dancing penguins.

I currently live in Melbourne, Australia with my fiancé and our two cats, Lilo and Mickey. While Melbourne is my hometown, I have also lived in Sydney, New Zealand, New Jersey and Singapore—where I was born. In my spare time, I like to paint my favorite fictional characters, as well as my own, which you can check out here! When I’m not writing or painting, I’m most likely planning my next trip to a Disney theme park or looking to add to my ever-growing collection of Disney memorabilia.

You can find me posting about cats, books, paintings and everything Disney over on Twitter and Instagram! @astridscholte

Four Dead Queens is out now! Get your copy here!