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  • RAE KNIGHTLY

    "Mostly daydreaming, but you can come along."

Rae Knightly is a science fiction author for middle-graders and young adults, best known for The Alien Skill Series, The Lost Space Treasure Series and The Knowledge Seeker.

Her books have hit #1 Amazon bestseller lists in multiple categories in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, and have won the following awards:

  • Whistler Independent Book Awards 2022, Children’s Category - GOLD MEDAL WINNER (Canada)
  • Reader's Favorite Book Awards, Category Children/Preteen 2021 - GOLD MEDAL WINNER (US)
  • Readers' Favorite Book Awards 2023, Category Children's Fantasy/Sci-Fi - SILVER MEDAL WINNER (US)
  • Readers' Favorite Book Awards, Category Young Adult Sci-Fi 2022 - SILVER MEDAL WINNER (US)
  • The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, Category Teenagers 2020 - SILVER MEDAL WINNER (UK)
  • The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, Category Teenagers 2019 - SILVER MEDAL WINNER (UK)
  • The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, Category Teenagers 2021 - FINALIST (UK)
  • Feathered Quill Book Awards, Category Young Readers 2021 - FINALIST (US)
  • IAN Book of the Year Awards, Category Juvenile 2020 - FINALIST (US)

Did you know that "Rae Knightly" is a pen name?

It started off as a bit of an accident. When Rae decided to put her first book out into the big scary world, it felt like a wise choice to publish under a pen name.

But she never expected it to take off!

So she embraced it, and after selling her first 90,000 books, the name promises to stick around for a long time.

Rae reads from her award-winning book "Ben archer and the world beyond" at the Whistler writers' festival in 2022.

​Besides, Rae Knightly is a super-cool name, don't you think? That's because Rae refers to Rey from Star Wars and Knightly is a combination of the words knight (fantasy) and night (science-fiction). Rae might be a bit of a nerd... and an introvert... and likes to sit by the fire wearing thick socks while reading a good book with a cat on her lap.

​Yes, she is much less heroic than the characters in her books.

Rae and her stellar editor, Cristy Watson, unknot plot twists over lunch.

Rae was born in Antwerp, Belgium, where she grew up on chocolate and waffles. Maybe she ate too many chocolates because her parents decided to move far away - to Africa - where she fell in love with the night skies and wanted to become an astronomer.

But Rae's strengths were in her writing, not in maths, so she ended up finishing a B.A. in Translation. She is fluent in four languages and a couple of made-up alien languages.

Rae couldn't have made it this far without the support of the creative coven, a group of professionally driven women authors. left to right: Mahtab narsimhan, amber cowie, karen dodd, sonia garrett and rae knightly

Hungry to discover the world, Rae went on to live in Brussels, Edinburgh, Tucson and Mexico City, where she worked for lawyers and Ambassadors, although she would much rather have gone exploring ancient Mayan ruins and Aztec temples.

But these high-demanding jobs taught her discipline, perseverance and attention to detail - three crucial qualities when writing novels.

She met her lifelong partner when she got off the plane in Mexico City and, together, the adventurous couple decided to emigrate to Canada.

although rae was diagnosed with a chronic illness (me/cfs), she strives to do a couple of author events every year.

Rae currently lives in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, with her husband and two children. She has finally stopped wandering (she can't because she has a cat on her lap, remember?) and lets her characters go on adventures, instead.

​​She hopes to take you on many more fictional roller-coaster rides, so fasten your seat-belts, switch on those rocket engines and prepare to head for the stars.

Thank you for visiting!

Rae Knightly

That's not rae's house, but she likes to pretend it is.