Gemma Tarlach has been, among other things, a journalist, a diplomat, and a pastry chef. She has lived on four continents and traveled through the other three. Wherever she wanders, writing has been the one constant in her life.Gemma began researching the story that would ultimately become Plaguewalker while living in Bavaria in the early 1990s. It would be the first novel she wrote that was inspired by her travels. She is currently at work on the final draft of a fantasy novel, The War's End, and its sequel, The Guardian. Like Plaguewalker, both novels involve a great deal of walking in the cold, one of her favorite pastimes and the place where she hears her characters best.Perhaps not coincidentally, Gemma currently lives and works at McMurdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica. Tales about her experiences there, as well as other travels through the Southern Hemisphere, can be found at storiesthataretrue.wordpress.com.