L.P. McMahon was born in Melbourne. His writing career began as a medical student, and he has since won or been shortlisted for multiple national and regional short story competitions. He has travelled, lectured and published widely in his medical career, living and working in Oxford, Berlin, Pakistan, Newfoundland and New Zealand. He currently directs a busy medical department as Professor of Nephrology at Monash University. As Swallows Fly is his debut novel.