Vivien Alcock is a commercial artist as well as an award-winning author. She has written many books for young people, including Stranger at the Window (1998), A Kind of Thief (1992), The Sylvia Game (1984), and The Trial of Anna Cotman (1990). Many of her books are thrilling mysteries. In A Kind of Thief, thirteen-year-old Elinor's father is suddenly arrested and put into prison, and she finds that she must face the truth about him and their way of life. In The Sylvia Game, twelve-year-old Emily's artist father takes her on a vacation to the seaside, where she makes friends with a gypsy's son and the young heir to a stately home, who are struck by her resemblance to mysterious, long-dead Sylvia, a girl in a painting by Renoir. The story "Qwertyuiop" is from a collection of stories about the supernatural, entitled Ghostly Companions: A Feast of Chilling Tales. Alcock's writing has been so popular in part because of her spooky and suspenseful plots, but also because her characters are so realistic. As one critic said, "Her characters aren't virtue- mongers spouting classic platitudes, but real teens facing real-life issues and learning from their mistakes and misjudgments."

Vivien was married to another award- winning writer, Leon Garfield (1921–1996). They raised their family in London, where she lives and writes today.