Garth Nix was born in Melbourne, Australia on July 19, 1963 and grew up in Canberra. He graduated from the University of Canberra in 1986 and worked various jobs within the publishing industry until 1994. After a stint in public relations, he returned to books and took up writing as a career. In 1999, he received a Golden Duck Award for Australian Contribution to Children's Science Fiction. He is the author of the Old Kingdom series, The Seventh Tower series, and The Keys to the Kingdom series. In 2014 his title Blood Ties made The New York Times Best Seller List.