When MICHELLE DOUGLAS was asked what she wanted to be when she grew up she answered, “A writer.” Years later she read an article about romance writing and thought, ooh that’ll be fun.

She was right. She lives in a leafy suburb of Newcastle on Australia’s east coast with her own romantic hero who is the inspiration behind all her happy endings. 

An unashamed fan of all things happily ever after, Leah Ashton has been a lifelong reader of romance. Writing came a little bit later, although in hindsight, she'd been dreaming up stories for as long as she can remember.

Sadly, the most popular boy in school never did suddenly fall head over heels in love with her... Now she lives in Perth, Western Australia with her own real life hero, two gorgeous dogs and the world's smartest cat.

By day, she works in IT, and by night she considers herself incredibly lucky to be writing the type of books she loves to read, and to have the opportunity to share her own characters' happy ever afters with readers.

Trish always fancied herself a writer, but she dutifully picked gherkins and washed dishes in a Chinese restaurant on her way to earning herself an economics degree and a qualification as a chartered accountant instead. Work took her to Canberra where she promptly fell in love with a tall, dark and handsome hero who cut computer code, and marriage and four daughters followed, which gave Trish the chance to step back from her career and think about what she'd really like to do.

Writing romantic fiction was at the top of the list, so Trish made a choice and followed her heart. It was the right choice. Since then, she's sold more than thirty titles to Harlequin with sales in excess of seven million globally, with her books printed in more than thirty languages in forty countries worldwide. Four times nominated and two times winner of Romance Writers of Australia's RuBY Award for Romantic Book of the Year, Trish was also a 2012 RITA finalist in the US.