On leaving school Fiona enrolled at the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney where she spent four years undertaking a rigorous training programme in drawing and painting. It took Fiona six years to complete her undergraduate degree in English and Italian literature, then another year for an Honours degree.

It took several more years, in which she did a teaching degree, taught in high school and ran her own art school, before Fiona finally engaged a literary agent and began to write professionally. Since 2009 Fiona has had five books published and has another four in progress. Fiona lives in Armidale, on the New England Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia with her family and many pets.

Jeremy N. Smith has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Discover, among other outlets, and he and his work have been featured by CNN, NPR News, and Wired. A graduate of Harvard College and the University of Montana, he is the author of Growing a Garden City and Epic Measures. He lives in Montana.

Philip Steele is a leading writer of children's non-fiction books. He was born in Surrey, graduated from University College Durham and worked in London publishing houses.

He then freelanced as a project manager, publishing consultant and author. He has written a wide range of books for Wayland, Watts, Dorling Kindersley, Kingfisher/Macmillan, Walker Books and many other publishers worldwide.

History, biography, lands and peoples, the natural world, current affairs and social issues all feature prominently in his backlist. Philip has backpacked around Africa, Europe, Asia, North America and Australia. For many years he has been settled very happily amidst the mountains, beaches and green fields of North Wales. His wife (as a teacher) and his teenage daughter (as a secondary school pupil) are ideally suited to cast a critical eye over his work!