Barbara Else is the author of five previous best-selling novels and two books for children, and edited six collections of stories for children and GRAND STANDS, in which top New Zealand writers talk about grandparenthood. Her first novel, THE WARRIOR QUEEN, was shortlisted for the Montana New Zealand Book Awards. She was the Victoria University of Wellington Writer in Residence for 1999. With her husband, writer Chris Else, Barbara runs TFS, a Wellington-based literary agency and assessment service.