Garth Nix was born in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia. A full-time writer since 2001, he has worked as a literary agent, marketing consultant, book editor, book publicist, book sales representative, bookseller, and as a part-time soldier in the Australian Army Reserve. Garth's books include the award-winning Old Kingdom fantasy novels Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen and, most recently, the prequel Clariel. He has also written the science fiction novels Shade's Children and A Confusion of Princes. His fantasy novels for children include The Ragwitch; the six books of The Seventh Tower sequence; The Keys to the Kingdom series; and with Sean Williams, the Troubletwisters books and Spirit Animals: Blood Ties. More than five million copies of Garth's books have been sold around the world, his books have appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, the Guardian and the Australian, and his work has been translated into 40 languages. He lives in Sydney, Australia. Follow Garth on twitter at @garthnix or at www.garthnix.com