Joseph Delaney is a retired English teacher living in Lancashire. He has three children and seven grandchildren and is a wonderful public speaker available for conference, library and bookshop events. His home is in the middle of Boggart territory and his village has a boggart called the Hall Knocker, which was laid to rest under the step of a house near the church. Most of the places in the Spook's books are based on real places in Lancashire. And the inspiration behind the stories often comes from local ghost stories and legends. The Spook's Apprentice, The Spook's Curse and The Spook's Secret have all been shortlisted for the Lancashire children's Book for the Year Award. The Spook's Apprentice is the winner of both the Sefton Book Award and the Hampshire Book Award. His latest book is The Spook's Sacrifice, the sixth book in the spine-tingling and best-selling Wardstone Chronicles series. And The Spook's Tale was his successful WBD book for 2009. It has recently been announced that Spook's Apprentice will be adapted into a feature film by director Kevin Lima, who directed last year's family blockbuster movie Enchanted.