Sophie Masson was born in Indonesia of French parents and was brought up in France and Australia. A bilingual French and English speaker, she has a master s degree in French and English literature. Sophie is the prolific and award-winning author of more than fifty novels for children, young adults and children, many of which have been published internationally. Her most recent novels with Random House Australia are the YA fairytale novels Moonlight and Ashes (2012), Scarlet in the Snow (2013) and The Crystal Heart (2014). She has also written under the pen-names Isabelle Merlin and Jenna Austen. Sophie is Chair of the Australian Society of Authors, Chair of the New England Writers' Centre, President of the New England and North West sub-branch of the Children's Book Council of Australia, and has served on the Literature Board of the Australia Council and the Book Industry Collaborative Council. She is also currently a writer ambassador for Room to Read Australia.