Justine Ettler’s second novel, The River Ophelia, (Picador, 1995) was an instant best-seller in Australia and New Zealand and has been taught at HSC and University level. Her first novel, Marilyn’s Almost Terminal New York Adventure, (Picador) was published the following year to critical acclaim. Justine made Australian literary history by being the first female debut writer to sell two books to a mainstream publisher. In 1997 Justine was selected as one of six Australian authors to tour the UK as part of the New Images Writer’s Tour and subsequently moved to London where she lived until 2007. She worked as a book reviewer at The Observer, The Evening Standard, and The Times Literary Supplement, lectured in Creative Writing, and worked as a reader for the London literary agency, Cornerstones, as well as for The Literary Consultancy. In addition to her career as an author, Justine is an accomplished flautist who performed as a soloist at the Sydney Opera House while in her teens, taught flute at Sydney Girls High, who participates in amateur musical theatre, and who has accompanied the Australian band The Go-Betweens.