So all cards, or should I say dice on the table, my love of fantasy and fiction started with the Dungeons and Dragons game. Marvellous worlds, epic quests, monsters and magic were as much a part of my youth as the works of Eddings, Irvine, Williams and Gemmell.

Amazingly, the fabulous woman I met in high school, married and have been with ever since, joined our group at the table in the early days and we still play to this day. I can say hand on heart therefore that the many journeys we have taken on in life together have been in both the real world and in a plethora of fantasy settings as well.

I live in Sydney, Australia and have two awesome children, both grown, married and with kids of their own now, which probably explains why I dived deep into writing in recent years rather than in my youth. I’ve been in IT since leaving college (you can look up Dave Chapman on LinkedIn if you want to know more of my professional life) and that full time job, along with D&D, playing guitar and travelling while raising kids really didn’t leave much room to put pen to paper and focus on writing properly until now.

Lastly I must say that this "about me” wouldn’t be complete without one more item, which is giving my thanks to three amazing women.

Marion, my partner in life, thanks for your unwavering smile, love and companionship in all things. Without you, the world in which Alaena and her companions live and breathe would never have made it to paper.

Ann my mum who, aside from promising to read the whole series despite the fact that fantasy fiction is not her cup of tea, has constantly supported and encouraged me to bring the Lightwielder Chronicles to life.

Jayne, my brilliant daughter who has a PhD in English Literature, for all your thoughts and comments on the 2nd round, end to end edit of Earth. I wonder, my darling girl, if this is the first book ever to have the final edit done while the editor was breastfeeding?