Sue Michell grew up on an apple orchard in Nelson, New Zealand. After her first volunteering experience as a school-leaver in East Malaysia with VSA, she completed a secondary teacher’s degree, and later became an early childhood teacher and lecturer in early childhood education. She returned to volunteering with some educational projects in Tanzania, where she was posted to regions less known to tourists. Her stories, although fictional, are based on everyday life in villages and schools, and draw on her travel experiences off the beaten track.