Apeksha Rao

Apeksha fell in love with words very early in life. While other kids of her age were still learning to spell words, she was already reading her older brother's books and comics. She wrote her first story at the age of seven and submitted it to Tinkle. Apeksha has always wanted to write a boarding school story along the lines of Enid Blyton's St. Clare and Mallory Towers series, only in an Indian setting. Akbar-Birbal & the Haunted Gurukul is the first of many such books that she hopes to write.

Apeksha is also the author of India's first YA spy thriller, Along Came A Spyder, which featured in multiple lists of 'top books of 2020' and has garnered rave reviews. It has also been optioned for screen adaptation. She has also published the prequel to the Spyders series, The Itsy Bitsy Spyder, as a novella on Kindle. Apeksha was handpicked by renowned author, Anita Nair, for her mentorship program, Anita's Attic.

Apeksha has been featured in newspapers and online media such as the Sunday Standard, Mid Day, Deccan Chronicle, Times Of India NIE, News18, Sunday Guardian, Outlook, The Tribune, The Week, etc. She has written articles on writing spy fiction, career aspirations, and parenting for Times Of India NIE, News18, News Now, Momspresso, and SheThePeople.