Mary Stanton

Mary Stanton is an accomplished American author, known for her children's fantasy novels and mystery novels. She began her professional writing career in middle age, after a variety of job experiences and a failed first marriage. Stanton has been a prolific writer, with nearly forty titles to her name, and she splits her writing between two personas. As Mary Stanton, she writes the Unicorns of Balinor series and the Beaufort & Company series, while under the name Claudia Bishop, she pens the Hemlock Falls Mysteries.

Stanton was born in Florida and grew up in Japan and Hawaii before returning to the United States for her education. She received a B.A. in Philosophy and Literature from the University of Minnesota. Stanton's career as a fiction writer began with the publication of her first novel, The Heavenly Horse from the Outermost West, in 1984. She has since written nineteen mystery novels, two adult fantasy novels, eleven novels for middle-grade readers, and three scripts for a television cartoon series. In addition, she has edited three short story anthologies and published nonfiction articles on horse care and veterinary medicine in national and regional magazines.

Stanton's interests outside of writing have remained consistent over the years. She is a horsewoman, a goat aficionado, an enthusiastic (if inept) gardener, and a fan of gourmet food. She has developed a writing program for teens and middle grade readers that has had considerable success in schools. Stanton is a dedicated reader, with particular emphasis on biography, history, veterinary science, medicine, psychology, and current affairs. She is also a member of the Mystery Writers of America.