Melissa Keil was born in Melbourne, Australia, and has been a giant book nerd for as long as she can remember. IShestudied Cinema and Anthropology at uni, and then spent a few more years dabbling in a bunch of graduate stuff, including Professional Writing and Editing. In between she has been a high school teacher, Middle Eastern tour guide, waitress, community theatre dogsbody, and IT help desk person (hands down, her most unsuccessful job to date). Now, by day, she is a children’s book editor, and she spends most of the rest of my time reading, writing, buying comic books, watching YouTube, and wrangling a cheeky spoodle named Hugo. Her debut YA novel, Life in Outer Space, was the winner of the 2013 Ampersand Project. It’s a young adult romantic comedy that combines some of her many loves – movies, music, karate, the Astor Theatre, Star Wars, and all things geek. Her second YA novel, The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl, is out now.