Michelle Helliwell was born and raised in Nova Scotia. She is now grown up enough to admit that when she started her undergraduate degree in Medieval History, she was pretty darned sure the past was going to be just like the fantasy novels she loved to read. So much for that. Having got over that disappointment, she simply turned her attention to mythic stories, fairy tales and Jane Austen. After some encouraging words from her grade 10 English teacher, she started writing her first novel, a time travel fantasy, when she was 15. She moved on to half-hearted attempts at something more literary, then nearly gave up on the writing all together until, in 2005, a co-worker put a romance novel in her hands and told her to "get over yourself". She did, and the rest, as they say, is history. Like many authors, she juggles a full time job, family life, and (perhaps not like many authors) an addiction to Lego video games. Because sometimes, when you've been toiling over a manuscript for while, the best way to blow off some steam is to save the galaxy/Middle Earth/Bricksville/Gotham by smashing lots of things into little tiny bricks.