Abby McDonald
Abby McDonald is a New York Times bestselling British author and screenwriter, who also writes under the pen name Abigail Haas.
Early life
She was born in England and grew up in Sussex, going on to study Politics, Philosophy & Economics at Oxford University. At college, she became music editor of The Oxford Student and completed her first novel.Career
She has worked as a music journalist and entertainment critic. Her writing has appeared in the New Musical Express, Plan B magazine, CosmoGIRL! and others.She has written twelve novels.
As well as writing under Abby McDonald and Abigail Haas, she has written as Melody Grace, self-publishing her Beachwood Bay series. The series became a USA Today and international bestseller series before she revealed she was the author. She is also a staff writer for the Netflix series Bridgerton.
Published works
Young Adult novels:- Sophomore Switch
- Boys, Bears & a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots
- The Anti-Prom
- Getting Over Garrett Delaney
- Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood
- Dangerous Boys
- Dangerous Girls
- And Then He Kissed Me: an anthology
TV
Movies
- Jingle Bell Heist. In December 2023, it was announced that McDonald's original script 'Jingle Bell Heist' had started production in London, starring Olivia Holt and Connor Swindells. The film was produced by ACE Entertainment, and directed by Michael Fimognari. It released on Netflix in November 2025.