Lana de Bastiani started writing children’s books while pursuing her master’s degree in education. She wrote her first book, The Fox and My Boot, after a fox stole her boot while skating on the pond behind her house. It quickly became a household favourite landing it on the NWT Best Sellers list.

Her new book, Nick the Northern Special, is a joint project between her and her friend Megan Cooper and was inspired by their a-dog-ted dogs, Nick and Dandelion.

In 2022, Lana opened Northern Special Books, a northern publishing house for Canadian literature. Lana enjoys writing children’s books set in northern Canada but looks forward to working with authors of all types.