Melanie Gifford always knew that when she was grown up she would be a writer. However, unable to wait that long, she completed her first novel in her early teens, Careers in journalism and publishing, as well as travels through Europe, Africa and America, only fuelled her passion for fiction and she continued to write copiously in her spare time. The award of a writer's bursary allowed her to concentrate on becoming a full-time author. After spending much of her life in the south of England, she currently lives in Scotland with her partner and two cats.