Lian Hearn studied modern languages at Oxford University and worked as a film critic and arts editor in London before settling in Australia. A lifelong interest in Japan led to the study of the Japanese language and many trips to Japan. This fascination culminated in Lian writing Across the Nightingale Floor, the first in the internationally acclaimed Tales of the Otori series. Grass for his Pillow, Brilliance of the Moon and The Harsh Cry of the Heron follow. Lian Hearn is the pseudonym under which Gillian Rubinstein writes her adult literature.
Patrick Harvey is an Irish-Australian actor and voiceover artist. He is best known for playing Irish immigrant Connor O'Neill on Neighbours for over a decade. Patrick spent most of his childhood in Belfast, Northern Ireland, moving back to Australia in 1999. He voiced Sinbad in Sherazade: The Untold Stories and has appeared in many other television programs including Utopia, Wentworth and The Cry.