Julia Lawrinson grew up in the outer suburbs of Perth and left school at age fifteen, but eventually completed a PhD in writing in 2004. She has held a variety of jobs, from supermarket checkout, chambermaid, barmaid, roadhouse attendant and weighbridge operator to speechwriter for the Western Australian Department of Health. She is currently Principal Research Officer attached to the Committees of the Legislative Assembly in Perth, where she and her family live, and she continues to write in her spare time. Julia's first novel, Obsession, won the 2001 WA Premier's Prize for Young Adult Writing. Since then, she has been prolific, having written five more novels for young adults, including Bye, Beautiful, which was shortlisted for both the QLD and WA Premier's Awards and was a 2007 CBC Notable Book, and a 2004 novel for middle readers, Loz and Al. Her most recent novel was The Push, which was on the 2009 QLD Premier's Award shortlist.