T. C. Southwell was born in Columbo, Sri Lanka, and moved to Cerf Island, Seychelles with her family at a few months of age, taking her first steps on the beach. Her brother and sister were sent to boarding school when she was six years old, leaving her to a solitary island life in which to develop an active imagination. At school she excelled at English, winning prizes and coming top of her class. Between the ages of ten and twelve she travelled in Europe and Africa, and after the death of her father she moved to South Africa with her mother at sixteen years of age.

Although she wrote stories during her school years, she only penned her first full length science fiction novel in 1988 when she was twenty six. Changing to the fantasy genre, she has since written over twenty novels and five screenplays. She continues her solitary lifestyle, her hobbies are motorcycling, horse riding and art, and spending time with her beloved thirty year old horse, Starr. She earns a living in the IT industry, working from home.

Illustrations by the author.