Melanie Pickering is an Australian author, from Brisbane, Queensland – and despite her fondness for the sunny climate – enjoys delving into the dark, murky underworld that inhabits her imagination.

A true Capricorn, she has an affinity with the earth, the dead, making lists, and has no spontaneity whatsoever. Intrigued by all things quirky, strange and unfamiliar, she grew up reading anything twisted - it's no surprise her absolute favourite story is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. 

The genre-mashing, dark and twisted romantic fantasy that Melanie writes is inspired by many things, including some incredibly disturbing dreams, which she captures in a journal beside her bed. She craves beauty and destruction in equal measures and enjoys forcing her characters to explore their own dark sides and tweaking their realities just enough to induce madness, both real and imagined. Melanie writes purely for enjoyment and to entertain, and her best characters always end up being teenagers.

Married and with two teens of her own, Melanie enjoys spending her non-writing time with her family and exploring different creative pastimes. She has a weakness for true gentlemen, merlot coloured roses and bittersweet dark chocolate.