Bianca Mastenbroek
About Bianca
Bianca Mastenbroek (1975) studied for a degree in Environmental Engineering, but her most deep-felt wish, ever since she was a child, was to be an author. That wish came true in 2008, when she published her first historical novel, entitled Vuurproef.
Since then Bianca has been active as a full-time author, and by now has published more than 40 books for adults, young adults, and children.
Because she is wheelchair bound she writes using speech recognition software (view how!).
In addition to her own writing, Bianca teaches authors how to write for beginning readers (with the so-called AVI system). She is a frequent guest in schools, where she holds writing workshops for children and young adults. These workshops give her the opportunity to share her passion for writing and reading. Her chief goal is to awaken and foster fresh creativity in her audiences.
Looking for an American agent or publisher
In 2019 Bianca’s novel Hendrick, The Dutch Indian was crowned with the Thea Beckman Award, the most distinguished prize for YA historical fiction in the Netherlands. Hendrick has meanwhile been translated into English, and it is currently awaiting the right publisher and agent to make it available to international audiences.
This award winning historical novel is set in America (the former New-Netherlands) in the year 1659 and is based on a true story. The prejudiced settler's son Hendrick Pels (age 16) is captured by the tribe in the run-up to the Esopus War. During his captivity he gets to know the Indians and their culture better and slowly but surely he starts to wonder who the real barbarians are.
If you are interested in representing this book, you can read the synopsis here.
And here you will find a number of quotes from the rave reviews the book has received.
Here you can browse her website in English, translated by Google.
About Bianca's books
The books Bianca has authored represent a broad variety of genres, and meet the demands of readers of all ages. She has written picture books, early readers and chapter books, and books for children with reading difficulties. In addition, her collection includes heavy tomes specially for those with an insatiable appetite for reading, and novels for adult readers.
Bianca’s preferred genres are historical fiction and fantasy (sometimes in combination), though she has written true-life stories as well. But what she loves most of all is writing books for young adults.
The feature common to all her storytelling is breathless pacing and suspense. She likes to take her audiences to other worlds, to other times, peoples, and customs. And if the reader, while being swept along by the narrative, comes away with a few things that are useful to learn (historical knowledge, for one thing), then that is a rich bonus.
Contact
Unfortunately I had to remove my contact form from the website due to an abundance of spam. But you can still reach me!
Send an email to info at biancamastenbroek dot nl and I will answer as soon as possible.