About the Author

Lila Lestrange was born in 1974 in Australia as the child of an Irish soldier in the British Army, grew up in Germany and likes Japanese okonomiyaki and Turkish coffee. Their national identity is "oddball". Lila graduated from Regensburg University in Germany in 1999 with a master's degree in Early Modern and Medieval History, although their German school leaving certificate — which was good enough for entry into university — did not state that they were actually fluent in German. (Don't ask. It's the little things that make life interesting.)
Apart from getting covered inch-thick in black library dust and upsetting hordes of book scorpions, during their university years Lila discovered the wonderful world of fantasy and role-playing-games. (And that the pharmacy library has more books on alchemy than the history library). After graduation, Lila has worked as a web designer, journalist, translator, copywriter as well as holding a number of odd office jobs that paid the bills!

I am a historian, sci-fi fan, parent, art lover, freak, fantasy reader, amateur photographer, bilingual, rape survivor, latinate, gamer, rat lover, one-time journalist, bisexual, aspiring web designer, crosscultural, non-binary, coffee addict, escapee from domestic abuse, knitter, women's rights advocate …
— and a writer.

… and as some of you might have guessed from that list there, I do know what I am writing about. As do a lot of other people. Quite probably people near you, people you know, people of whom you would have never guessed it.