Renae Hayward was born during a cyclone in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, but spent her formative years by the beaches of Perth’s northern suburbs. She has authored two books for children, Barking Mad (Walker Books Australia) and Say Hooray (Fremantle Press), and was the inaugural recipient of the Ray Koppe Young Writers Residency (Australian Society of Authors/Varuna).

Renae now lives near Fremantle with her husband, James, their two children and Frankie the labrador in a house overflowing with books.