About the Author – A.J. Priest
I believe the best stories don’t come from nowhere — they come from love.
For years I lived in the countryside surrounded by animals, open fields, and the kind of quiet that makes your imagination run wild. I had donkeys, a dog, and two children who saw magic in everything. Those years shaped the storyteller I am today.
When my marriage ended, life changed. But the weekends my children spent with me didn’t. And it was during those precious days together that The Night Riders was born — a story created not just for my children, but inspired by them. Ashleigh, the brave and imaginative nine-year-old at the heart of the series, carries a little piece of my daughter in her. And Nathan, her older brother who is absolutely convinced something very strange is going on — carries a little piece of my son.
Every family has a child who charges headfirst into adventure and a sibling who spends most of their time trying to figure out what on earth they’re up to. If that sounds familiar, you’re in the right place.
I wanted to give my children a world they could disappear into — full of adventure, laughter, and the kind of magic that feels just close enough to be real. A world where an ordinary garden might be hiding an extraordinary secret. Where a grumpy donkey might just surprise you. And where even the smallest, bravest act can change everything.
The Inspiration Behind The Night Riders
It started, as most good things do, at bedtime.
My daughter wanted a story. Not just any story — a donkey story. I’m not entirely sure what sparked it that first night, but whatever happened, it worked. Because after that, nothing else would do. Every single night it had to be a donkey story. New ones, old ones, more adventures, more characters, more magic.
And it had to be right. If I changed something — a name, a detail, something that had happened in a previous story — she would correct me. Every time. She knew these characters better than I did.
So I kept making them up, and I kept getting them right. And wrong.
Those bedtime stories, told in the dark to a little girl who refused to settle for anything less, eventually became The Night Riders. Misty, Myles, Doughnut, and the famously grumpy Noodles — they were there from the very beginning, one story at a time.
I never set out to write a book. I just didn’t want the stories to stop.
Creating Stories Children Love
I don’t write stories about imaginary worlds invented at a desk. I write about the world I have actually lived in — fields and farmyards, muddy paths and starlit skies, animals with attitude and children who refuse to stop believing.
My characters feel real because they are real, drawn from the animals and people closest to me, given new names and a little sprinkle of magic. That’s why young readers connect with them so quickly. They don’t feel like characters in a book. They feel like friends.
At the heart of every story is something worth carrying home — the courage to do the right thing when it’s hard, the power of a true friendship, the idea that kindness matters more than anything. But I always make sure the adventure comes first. The best lessons are the ones you don’t notice you’re learning.
Building the World of The Night Riders
The Night Riders: A Magical Rescue is just the beginning.
I always knew that Ashleigh’s story was bigger than one book. Seven books. One extraordinary journey. A series designed to grow with your child, from the very first page all the way to the final, magical chapter.
There are new adventures ahead, new challenges, new characters waiting in the wings — and a certain someone in a red suit who will play a very important role in what comes next.
I want children to have a world they can return to again and again — one that feels warm and familiar, yet always full of surprises. A place where the next adventure is never far away.
A Message to Young Readers
If you’re reading this — hello. I wrote these books for you.
I want you to know that magic is real. Maybe not in the way you see it in films, but in the way a good story makes your heart beat faster. In the way a true friend makes you feel braver. In the way one small, courageous decision can change absolutely everything.
Ashleigh didn’t think she was extraordinary. She was just a girl who refused to leave her teddy bear alone at Christmas.
But that one decision set off a chain of events that nobody saw coming. It would lead to midnight adventures, impossible friendships, and a journey that would take Ashleigh and the Night Riders all the way to the most magical place in the world — and to someone who had been watching over all of them for longer than they knew.
Your adventure is waiting. All you have to do is turn the page.