Garth Nix was born in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia, to the sound of the Salvation Army band outside playing'Hail the Conquering Hero Comes' or possibly'Roll Out the Barrel'. Garth left Melbourne at an early age for Canberra (the federal capital) and stayed there till he was nineteen, when he left to drive around the UK in a beat-up Austin with a boot full of books and a Silver-Reed typewriter. He is now an award-winning author and one of the most influential names in contemporary fantasy.