Vivid authors

Karen Viggers' was born in Melbourne, Australia, and grew up in the Dandenong Ranges riding horses and writing stories. She studied Veterinary Science at Melbourne University, and then worked in mixed animal practice for seven years before completing a PhD in wildlife health. She lives in Canberra with her husband and two children. She works part-time in veterinary practice, provides veterinary support for biologists studying native animals, and writes in her spare time. She is the author of The Stranding.

Sarah Hay's first novel, Skins, won The Australian/Vogel Literary Award in 2001. Sarah grew up in Esperance, Western Australia, and has worked in journalism and public relations. She now lives in Perth and is studying at the University of Western Australia. She is the author of Texas.

Vicki Hastrich was born in Sydney. Her first novel, Swimming with the Jellyfish, was published in 2001. She is the author of The Great Arch.

Fiona Capp was born in Melbourne in 1963. She trained as a journalist, has a PhD in English and has worked as a freelance writer and university tutor in English, journalism and novel writing. Her first book, Writers Defiled was shortlisted for the FAW Australian Unity Literature Award in 1993. Night Surfing, her first novel, was shortlisted for the 1997 Nita B. Kibble Awards and the Toulon Bookfair Awards. Her second novel, Last of the Sane Days, was shortlisted for the Age Fiction Book of the Year and was nominated in Australia for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Her memoir of her love for the sea and surfing, That Oceanic Feeling won the Australians Studying Abroad Travel Writing Prize and the Nita B. Kibble Literary Award for women writers in 2004. Capp lives in Brunswick, Melbourne, with her partner and son. She is the author of Musk & Byrne.

Catherine Jinks is the author of many children's and YA books as well as several novels for adults. Her interest in telling a great story and her writing talent has given her commercial and critical success across a wide range of genre and age group. Catherine lives in the Blue Mountains of NSW with her husband and daughter. She is the author of Dark Mountain.

Joanne Fedler is a full-time mother and writer, former law lecturer and advocate for women's rights. She is the author of six books, including Secret Mothers' Business (Allen & Unwin, 2006) and Dreamcloth (Jacana, 2005), and the co-founder of Moonstone Media. She grew up in Johannesburg and now lives with her husband and two children in Sydney. She is the author of Things Without A Name.

Julienne van Loon was born in 1970 and grew up in country New South Wales. She studied creative writing at the University of Wollongong and later at the University of Queensland. Her first novel, Road Story, won The AustralianVogel Literary Award in 2004 and was published by Allen & Unwin in 2005. Julienne's work has been published in a variety of journals in Australia including TEXT, Mattoid and Verandah and has been broadcast on ABC radio. She now lives in Perth, where she is a lecturer in the Faculty of Media, Society and Culture at Curtin University of Technology. She is the author of Beneath the Bloodwood Tree.

Barry Maitland was born in Scotland and brought up in London. After studying architecture at Cambridge, he practised and taught in the UK before moving to Australia where he was Professor of Architecture at the University of Newcastle. He has since retired from the university to pursue his writing. Maitland's first mystery The Marx Sisters was a nominee for the John Creasey award for Best First Novel and The Malcontenta won the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction. After nine Brock and Kolla crime novels, this is his first stand-alone mystery novel. He is the author of Bright Air.

Sofie Laguna has previously written for children and young adults (Bird and Sugar Boy, My Yellow Blankie, Too Loud Lily and Bad Buster). She is also an actor and lives in Melbourne. She is the author of One Foot Wrong.