Gladys Malvern authored over 40 books, including many popular historical novels for young adults. Many of her works focus on entertainers, having had a successful career in theater, herself. She began acting at age 3 and performed on Broadway in 1908, at age 11, in a production of The Man Who Stood Still. She toured as an actress and vaudeville performer extensively into her early twenties, when she began a career writing copy at a Los Angeles based advertising agency. After over a decade in advertising, and with growing confidence in her ability to write and sell books, she dedicated herself to a new career as an author. She won the Julia Ellsworth Ford Foundation Award for Valiant Minstrel in 1943 and, in 1958, Behold Your Queen! was a main selection of the Junior Literary Guild.