Abigail Balfe

Hello and welcome to my little place on the internet.

I am a queer neurodivergent (auDHD) Brighton-based author/illustrator represented by Emily Talbot at United Agents, and an Emmy award-winning creative producer.

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My debut middle-grade illustrated children's book A Different Sort of Normal, my real life story about growing up autistic and undiagnosed, was Puffin/Penguin Random House's lead non-fiction debut of 2021, was shortlisted for Children’s Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2022 British Book Awards and longlisted for Best Book with Facts at the Blue Peter Books Awards 2021.

 

The USA and Canada versions can be found under the slight different title: A Different Kind of Normal. A Different Sort of Normal has also been translated into Vietnamese, with more translations currently in the works.

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I am also a Reiki Master - and it was actually Reiki that was the first step towards discovering my autism! I've been working with Reiki daily for 10 years now and it's been hugely beneficial in helping me with things I experience as a neurodivergent person such as sensory overload recovery, shutdowns, anxiety, confidence issues and learning to advocate for myself, as well as learning to unmask. I'm currently taking private clients for distance healing sessions tailored to individual needs - and if you'd like to try an immediate burst of Reiki you can head to my TikTok where I'm sharing free sessions initially aimed at supporting my fellow neurodivergents and the things we might need support with - but these sessions can be used by neurodivergents and neurotypicals alike! I'd love to know if you have any custom requests and how you get on with these TikTok sessions - so do leave me a comment if you stop by!

 

I am a graduate of Cambridge School of Art's MA Children's Book Illustration and A Different Sort of Normal was originally the final project of my Masters degree :) 

I often speak on podcasts, TV, radio and at live events about autism, neurodiversity and disability  inclusion within publishing and entertainment, and I will be taking booking for these as well as school events from summer 2024 - so if you'd like to discuss a project/make a booking please get in touch :)
 

I love bright happy colours, pattern design and limited colour pencil drawings. I work with both digital and traditional media depending on the project. Humour and emotion are important to me.

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Exploring the relationship between text and image has always been integral to my practice. As a child I drew pictures within essays, hand-designed homework titles and produced full colour front covers for my class books. This creative fluidity is still very much a part of how I produce work. My sketchbooks are like a child’s diary of memories and I like to design my own fonts , in fact - I designed one of the fonts in A Different Sort of Normal! 
 

From 2011-2023 I worked in TV & Entertainment, building creative social media marketing campaigns for some of the biggest names in the world, including One Direction, Little Mix and Netflix. 

 

Sometimes these two career paths crossed over as they did in 2020 when I created a mini sex education/life hack Instagram Storybook for Netflix's animated comedy, Big Mouth. In 2020 I won an actual Emmy award (!) for that project, the Big Mouth Guide to Life, as well as Webby Honoree status. In 2015 I was also nominated for Community Manager of the Year in The Drum's Social Buzz Awards for my work across The X Factor (ITV) and First Dates (Channel 4).

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​I am also a musician, composer, and ex-musical comedy performer - and I composed the piano soundtrack for the audiobook version of A Different Sort of Normal. 

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When I’m not writing and drawing I like to spend time in nature, rollerskating around my living room, making things out of clay and hugging my cat.

For more facts/showing off feel free to pop on over to my LinkedIn page!