Tania McCartney was born in Tasmania and has lived in France, England, and China. She returned to Australia in 2009 after four years living and writing in Beijing, where she freelanced for four expat magazines including Time Out and beijingkids. It was during her time as Family Matters columnist for City Weekend that she decided to self-publish her own books. Since then she has had a number of books published by mainstream publishers. She has also written for a range of print and online magazines in Australia. McCartney has recently become an ambassador for the National Year of Reading (NYR) 2012, representing the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Tania lives in Canberra with her husband and two children, Ella and Riley.