Melbourne writer Jeremy Dickey never planned to be an author. In school, he learned to write only by disregarding everything the teachers taught him, lending his work to be different to everybody else’s. He studied building design in trade school, then afterwards worked his days as a draftsperson, often working the night as well with a driving compulsion to put his ideas down on paper. Keeping his soul alive, he took up classical guitar, musical composition, motorcycle riding, swordplay, flamenco, cartooning and screenwriting. Then, after nine years, he finished his first novel, which was immediately accepted. His other works are still in the making.