Payal Kapadiaal Kapadia loves words for the stories they tell, even more for the stories they carry inside them. She studied English Literature at St Xavier's College, Mumbai, and earned an MSc degree (Journalism) from Northwestern University. Writing for new outlets in the USA, Hong Kong, Japan and India, she was drawn to offbeat tales of unsung heroes and lost causes: a painting pachyderm; the last Japanese soldiers of Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army; and historic homes going under the hammer.

Her debut novella Wisha Wozzariter won the 2013 Crossword Book Award for Children's Writing and features in the 101 Indian Children's Books We Love! compilation. Her bestselling books include the well-loved Horrid High series, a children's biography of B.R. Ambedkar, Twice Upon a Time and Maidless in Mumbai.

Payal now lives somewhere in Mumbai, in a flat among flats in a high-rise among high-rises on a street among streets. But she can see the sea from her window and sometimes it is big enough to swallow the sky and the clouds tumble into it. On those days, she writes.