birth_place notableworks name article_title birth_name occupation
southampton , england the shapeshifter ali sparkes ali sparkes
 alison sparkes author
ali sparkes

ali sparkes -lrb- born 1966 -rrb- is a british children 's author .
her books include `` the shapeshifter '' series , `` out of this world '' -lrb- a prequel to `` the shapeshifter '' and first released as `` miganium '' -rrb- , `` unleashed '' -lrb- a spin-off/sequel series of `` the shapeshifter '' , centred on some of the other shapeshifter characters -rrb- , `` dark summer '' , `` frozen in time '' , `` wishful thinking '' , `` destination earth '' , the `` monster makers '' series , and `` s.w.i.t.c.h '' .
she lives with her husband and two sons in southampton , england .
her debut book `` the shapeshifter : finding the fox '' was nominated for the 2007 bolton children 's book award .
she has also won two blue peter awards : `` book i could n't put down '' and `` book of the year '' , for her book `` frozen in time '' .
in january 2012 , sparkes appeared as a contestant on the quiz show `` eggheads '' in a team called the incidentals , along with her parents , sister and family dentist .
sparkes won her head-to-head against cj de mooi , securing her place in the final round , but her team ultimately lost .
when she was younger , sparkes wanted to be an actress and appeared in many amateur theatre productions .
her claim to fame is appearing on a tv programme when she was 14 -lrb- 1980 -rrb- .
