Felice Arena chats to Dani Vee about writing books for kids, acting and writing historical fiction.

In addition to being a prolific writer of children's books, Felice Arena is also an accomplished actor, speaker, TV presenter and playwright.

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In the Nineties he played Marco Alessi in the TV soap opera Neighbours for a year before heading off to pursue a musical theatre career in London. During his time in the UK he starred in West End musicals Hair, Godspell and What a Feeling.

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It was in this period he began to write, sparked by nostalgia for his boyhood days in country Victoria. Felice's debut novel, a story about a dolphin and a swimmer set in Australia, was picked up by a UK publisher, and he hasn't looked back since.

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Felice’s books have topped bestseller lists and garnered several awards, including six Australian Children Choice Book Awards. ​Some of these include the Andy Roid series, the Sporty Kids books, the hugely popular Specky Magee series, and most recently his acclaimed historical adventure novels The Boy and the Spy and Fearless Frederic - which recently was listed as a CBCA notable book.

His latest novel, A Great Escape, is a gripping adventure set in Cold War Berlin and is out now.

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Felice's books have also been published in the UK, USA, Ireland, New Zealand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, and China.

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In 2013 Felice was named Koala Legend of the year (Kids Own Australian Literature Awards).