Paul Mannering was born, as we so often are, to biological parents (literally, his father was a Marine Biologist). The youngest of 4 surviving children and an unknown number of others who never made it past zygote, or were simply sold for research purposes to make ends meet. (The 70's were a hard time for his family). Born in Kaikoura, New Zealand, where steep mountains plunge into dark seas with canyons so deep that colossal squid and whales duel it out in the crushing depths. Moving to Christchurch at 14, after a year of boarding school, he fought his way through high-school and then started the first of many full time jobs. He became a father at 19, went through various life experiences, went to a community college as an adult student, studied nursing, traveled overseas, returned, worked, and did all the fun things that you do when you are in your 20's and 30's. Realising that he really missed writing, Paul started taking it serious­ly again in his late 30's. Since then he has had a dozen novels published, a pile of short stories released into the wild, and he has written and produced a lot of podcast audio drama. He even won awards. Paul has recently relocated to Australia from New Zealand where he now lives under an assumed identity as a functional adult in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.