Philippa Ballantine, born in Wellington, New Zealand, has always had her head in a book. At the age of thirteen she began writing fantasy stories for herself. Philippa earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Political Science and then a Bachelor of Applied Science in Library and Information Science. Her first professional sale was in 1997, and since then she has gone on to produce mostly novel length fiction. In 2006 she became New Zealand's first podcast novelist, and she has voiced and produced Weaver's Web, Chasing the Bard, Weather Child and Digital Magic as podiobooks. Her podcasts have been short listed for the Parsec Awards, and won a Sir Julius Vogel award. When not writing or podcasting, Philippa loves reading, gardening, and traveling. She still lives in Wellington.