About the Author

Cornelia Funke was born in 1958 in Westphalia, Germany. She had always wanted to become an astronaut or a pilot. Before she became a writer, she was a social worker and then became an illustrator. From there she became a writer. Cornelia married printer Rolf Funke in 1981. When she writes, the ideas just flow in to her. The characters, Cornelia Funke elaborates, "Mostly they step into my writing room and are so much alive, that I ask myself, where did they come from. Of course, some of them are the result of hard thinking, adding characteristics, manners, etc., but others are alive from the first moment they appear", and pointed out that Dustfinger from "Inkheart" was one of the most vivid characters who ever popped into her mind.Their daughter, Anna, was born in 1989 and their son, Ben, in 1994. The Funke family lived in Hamburg for 24 years, until they moved to Los Angeles in May 2005. In March 2006, Rolf Funke died of cancer.