S A LaPlanche

Shirley LaPlanche has been a journalist, travel writer, non-fiction author and now - fiction.

Her first crime thriller is set in Australia and sweeps across the US and England where she has lived. Twin girls - one a psychopath. Years ago, she was wholly absorbed in the tension in Julius by Daphne du Maurier and takes her readers on a similar journey-of-doubt.

She grew up in country New Zealand with a thirst for knowledge that took her around the world working in cities, on a Kibbutz, a movie set in Tunisia, barmaid in Vancouver, training horses in England and selling her blood in Europe when she needed cash.

She settled in Sydney and was an Editor on The Australian newspaper until she went freelance travel writing for magazines and newspapers around the world. Real estate interested her so for a while she edited a national real estate newsletter and she has invested in rental properties.

Her passion for the outdoors led to her first book - Stepping Lightly on Australia - A Traveller's Guide to Ecotourism. This was published by HarperCollins in Australia and Globe Pequot in the US. Now she plans to write more thrillers - her readers are insisting on a follow-on to The Fatal Path.