Gela Kalaitzidis grew up in Sweden. There, during cold, snowy winters, Gela developed an affection for dreaming, drawing, and writing, which led to a career as a digital artist for blockbuster Hollywood movies and, later, as a children's book author and illustrator. Gela's debut picture book Ozzie and Prince Zebedee was nominated Barns & Noble best picture book of 2022 and Gela has won the SCBWI Twitter Banner Award 2019. Gela Kalaitzidis lives in Venice Beach with three children, a Greek husband, too many cats and a 2ft long python named Slim Shady.