Bryan Phillips grew up in Northern Victoria and has fond memories of riding his Malvern Star bike around a dusty Mallee town with his best friend looking for cordial bottles to convert into Choo Choo bars. His family moved to a vineyard and orchard when he was nine where he had to contend with tiger snakes, rabbits and swooping magpies. His first encounter with a bush turkey was in Brisbane where it tore up his back yard destroying the vegetable patch and garden beds. He lives with his interior designer wife by the sea in Lennox Head near Byron Bay. When he is not writing and tilting at the sun, he and his wife enjoy restoring period houses, playing golf and tennis and travelling.