Hazel Gaynor is an author and freelance writer. Her debut novel The Girl Who Came Home - A Titanic Novel was self-published as a Kindle ebook in March 2012 and quickly became a No.1 bestseller in the Historical Fiction and Historical Romance charts. With a passion for history - being particularly drawn to stories of women who have been involved in historical events but who may have been overlooked by academic historians - Hazel recently completed her second historical fiction novel Daughters of the Flowers which is set in Victorian London.

When she isn't writing fiction, or reviewing books here at Off the Shelf, Hazel writes author features and a guest blog for national Irish writing website writing.ie and she also writes parenting and lifestyle articles for the national Irish press. Hazel's personal blog www.whimsandtonic.com is a place where she shares writing news and progress towards her dream of being a traditionally published author.

In October 2012, Hazel was awarded the Cecil Day Lewis Award for Emerging Writers at the Kildare Reader's Festival in Ireland and she will be appearing at Waterford Writer's Festival in March 2013. Originally from North Yorkshire, she now lives in Ireland with her husband and two young children.

Twitter: @HazelGaynor
FB: facebook.com/hazelgaynorauthor