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Michelle Saftich resides in Brisbane, Australia, with her husband and two children. She holds a Bachelor of Business/Communications Degree, majoring in journalism, from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). For the past twenty years, she has worked in communications, including print journalism, sub-editing, communications management and media relations. In 1999, she was named National Winner for Best News Story in the ASNA (Australian Suburban Newspaper Awards). Born and raised in Brisbane, she spent ten years living in Sydney; and two years in Osaka, Japan, where she taught English. Her first two books - Port of No Return and Wanderers No...

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Erin-Claire Barrow is an author and illustrator originally from the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. She paints in watercolours to create whimsical scenes, storybook illustrations, and bring to life the strange creatures of fairy tales and folklore. Erin-Claire is always on the lookout for ways to combine her passions for art and equality, and is particularly interested in how art can be used to raise awareness of social justice issues. In 2018, she spoke at TEDx Canberra on retelling fairy tales for our diverse, modern society to challenge stereotypes and encourage young people (and especially young women) to see themselves...

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Shelley Russell Nolan is an avid reader who began writing her own stories at sixteen. Her first completed manuscript featured brain-eating aliens and a butt-kicking teenage heroine. Since then she has spent her time creating fantasy worlds where death is only the beginning and even freaks can fall in love. A member of Queensland Writers Centre and the Regional Writers Reference Group, Shelley regularly attends workshops and writers festivals to meet other writers and readers. Born in New Zealand, moving to Australia with her family when she was seven, Shelley currently lives in Central Queensland, Australia, with her husband and...

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Cindy lived in a small town on the Black Sea coast of Turkey for two years where she taught English. This was the beginning of a life-long interest in Middle Eastern culture and language. Born in the UK, she emigrated to Australia in 1975 with her family. She’s been an English language teacher, freelance travel writer and tour guide, in both Turkey and Sydney. What drew you to write about Muslim people, in a time when they aren't very popular? When I started writing my first novel The Afghan Wife nearly ten years ago, the demonisation of Muslims was gaining momentum. And then...

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Rebecca Burns is an award-winning writer of short stories, over thirty of which have been published online or in print. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2011, winner of the Fowey Festival of Words and Music Short Story Competition in 2013 (and runner-up in 2014), and has been profiled as part of the University of Leicester’s “Grassroutes Project”—a project that showcases the 50 best transcultural writers in the county. Rebecca, you've written two books about New Zealand history. What drew you to write about this country and period? This is an area of history that I find fascinating and I...

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Elizabeth Foster read avidly as a child, but only discovered the joys of writing some years ago, when reading to her own kids reminded her of how much she missed getting lost in other worlds. Once she started writing, she never looked back. She’s at her happiest when immersed in stories, plotting new conflicts and adventures for her characters. Elizabeth lives in Sydney, where she can be found scribbling in cafés, indulging her love of both words and coffee. What drew you to write portal fantasy for your book?  I’m drawn to stories about things I would never otherwise experience. I also like...

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Felicity Banks is a Canberra author specialising in fantasy and interactive fiction, including her Antipodean Queen fantasy steampunk series. She also writes various pirates tales (some appropriate for children, some definitely not) -- stories and images that appeal to the not-so-secret pirate within all of us. Felicity, you obviously have a love for pirates, what drew you to writing pirate stories?  When I was eighteen I was living in Indonesia and I had the idea to invent my own fantasy world, Rahana (based on Indonesia). That meant a place with lots of islands, which naturally led to a lot of...

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When Carmel Bendon isn’t writing she’s lecturing at university or giving talks to general audiences on “all things medieval”. With a PhD in Medieval Literature and Culture she has published in academic journals and authored the successful non-fiction book Mysticism and Space. At home in Sydney she lives with her husband, a faithful dog, and a wild garden. She is the proud mother of three adult daughters. Grasping at Water is her first novel. What drew you to write about mysticism? Were there any authors that inspired you to write about this subject? I have a PhD in medieval literature...

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T.R. Thompson is an Australian speculative fiction author. He lives in Belgrave on the outskirts of Melbourne with his wife and two young sons. When not writing or reading, he spends too much time gaming and taking long meandering walks through the forest that always seem to end up at a tavern. Tom, what drew you to write in the fantasy genre? Were there any authors that inspired you to write fantasy?  I’ve always loved the escapism and possibility for real originality in speculative fiction. I remember hiding in my room lost in other worlds as a child, and that...

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Joe Basile, the host of HISTORY Channel’s “The Jesus Strand: A Search for DNA” started simply as an Italian guy growing up in Chicago as the youngest of ten siblings. Much of his life was shaped by the death of his mom at a young age. He dropped out of high school and became a local rap artist.  As that evolved, his Christian friends' love and fearless sharing of the gospel, with confidence and no judgment, gravitated him to Christ. After he gave his life to Christ, he shifted to rapping about Jesus, but eventually felt called into ministry and currently...

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