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A fantasy fan since being read 'The Hobbit' by her father at the fireside at the age of six, S R Manssen has been an avid bookworm her entire life. She is the multi-award nominated author of The Realmshift Trilogy – a YA fantasy fiction trilogy comprising four books (I know!). Sharon had a multi-cultural upbringing, attending high school in Belgium (in Flemish) and working 9 years in Bangkok, Thailand. It was there she realised she had a story inside her which she then proceeded to write over the next ten years, squeezing writing in between raising a family and working full time as a professional engineer. Her books have variously been finalists in the Tom Fitzgibbon Award, the SJV Awards and the Caleb Awards. She served as the President of Tauranga Writers for nearly 5 years and has been the President of SpecFicNZ since 2022. She is a StartWrite Manuscript assessor and Youth Mentor with NZSA. View all posts by Sharon Manssen