Alex Bell (writer)

Alexandra Rebecca Bell (born 24 April 1986) is an English author of adult, young adult (YA), and middle-grade speculative fiction. She writes under the names Alex Bell and Alexandra Bell.

Early life

Bell grew up in the New Forest District of Hampshire. She studied Law at the University of Southampton, graduating in 2007. She then began an LPC qualification, but dropped out due to a lack of interest, opting instead to work part-time at the Citizens Advice Bureau while she pursued writing professionally.

Career

At age 19, Bell signed with agent Carolyn Whitaker. For her second attempt at novel-writing, Bell landed her first deal with Gollancz, through which she published her debut adult horror novel ''The Ninth Circle'' in April 2008. ''The Ninth Circle'' was nominated for the Locus Award for Best First Novel. Her second published novel ''Jasmyn'' followed in 2009, which was longlisted for a British Fantasy Award. She then moved to Headline for her first young adult (YA) ''Lex Trent'' duology.

In 2014, Stripes Publishing (a Little Tiger Group imprint) invited Bell to contribute a novel to its ''Red Eye'' horror series. Bell came up with ''Frozen Charlotte'', a young adult (YA) thriller about antique dolls. ''Frozen Charlotte'' was a 2016 Zoella Book Club pick for WH Smith. After readers expressed interest in learning more about the backstory to ''Frozen Charlotte'', Bell wrote an Edwardian Isle of Skye-set prequel titled ''Charlotte Says'', which was published in 2017. ''The Haunting'' (2016) and ''The Lighthouse'' (2022) would also form part of the ''Red Eye'' series.

Then with Faber Children's in a three-book deal, Bell went in a more light-hearted direction with a middle-grade fantasy adventure series, starting with ''The Polar Bear Explorers' Club'' in 2017. ''The Polar Bear Explorers' Club'' was named Waterstones Book of the Month and longlisted for the Carnegie Medal. Rounding out the initial trilogy with ''The Forbidden Expedition'' (also known as ''Explorers on Witch Mountain'') and ''Explorers on Black Ice Bridge'', the series expanded to six novels.

In 2019, Bell published the standalone novels ''Music and Malice in Hurricane Town'' and ''A Most Peculiar Toy Factory'' via Barrington Stoke.

After completing ''The Polar Bear Explorers'', Rock the Boat Books (a Oneworld Publications imprint) commissioned Bell to write a middle-grade horror trilogy, starting with ''The Train of Dark Wonders'' in October 2023. The second installment ''The Hunt for the Cursed Unicorn'' followed in 2024, with the third set to be published in 2025. In addition, she wrote ''The Glorious Race of Magical Beasts'', published in 2024.

Bell also began writing under the name Alexandra Bell in 2021; ''The Winter Garden'', an adult Victorian fantasy novel published via Del Rey (a Cornerstone UK imprint), marked Bell's debut title under the new moniker. ''The Winter Garden'' was compared to Robert Dinsdale's ''The Toymakers'' (2018) and Natasha Pulley's ''The Watchmaker of Filigree Street'' (2015).

Bibliography

''Lex Trent''

* ''Lex Trent Versus the Gods'' (2010)
* ''Fighting with Fire'' (2011)

''Frozen Charlotte''

* ''Frozen Charlotte'' (2014)
* ''Charlotte Says'' (2017)

''The Polar Bear Explorers' Club''

* ''The Polar Bear Explorers' Club'' (2017)
* ''The Forbidden Expedition'' (2018)
* ''Explorers on Black Ice Bridge'' (2019)
* ''The Ocean Squid Explorers' Club'' (2020)
* ''Explorers at Pirate Island'' (2021)
* ''Explorers at Stardust City'' (2022)

''The Train of Dark Wonders''

* ''The Train of Dark Wonders'' (2023)
* ''The Hunt for the Cursed Unicorn'' (2024)
* ''Escape from the Castle of Illusions'' (2025)

Standalones

* ''The Ninth Circle'' (2008)
* ''Jasmyn'' (2009)
* ''The Haunting'' (2016)
* ''A Most Peculiar Toy Factory'' (2019)
* ''Music and Malice in Hurricane Town'' (2019)
* ''The Lighthouse'' (2022)
* ''The Glorious Race of Magical Beasts'' (2025)

As Alexandra Bell

* ''The Winter Garden'' (2021)
* ''The White Octopus Hotel'' (2025)

Short stories

* "The Fifth Bedroom" in ''The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women'' (2012), edited by Marie O'Regan
* "The Devil in Red" in ''X7: A Seven Deadly Sins Anthology'' (2013), edited by Alex Davis
* "The Confession" in ''Tales from the Vatican Vault'' (2015), edited by David V. Barrett

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:bell, alex
Living people
1986 births
Alumni of the University of Southampton
British women horror writers
British women science fiction and fantasy writers
British women writers of young adult literature
English horror writers
English women children's writers
English women novelists
People from New Forest District
Writers from Hampshire
Writers from Southampton