Zena Shapter is a multi-award-winning author, high school English tutor and youth writing competition judge. Before writing When Dark Waters Burn, she interviewed scores of teenagers about what they wanted to read, and their concerns for the future. She was fascinated to learn they sought escapist stories that authentically represented their feelings of being unheard, fears about sustainability, threat of war, job instability… and Australian property prices!

So she rolled all that into the thrilling world of Palude, a planet with carnivorous tree swamps, minimal land, few resources, and political unrest that resonates. To read more of Zena’s incredible award-winning speculative and contemporary fiction, please browse the bibliography on her website at zenashapter.com. When not writing, Zena loves movies, frogs, chocolate, potatoes and living with her family among Sydney’s beautiful Northern Beaches.

Zena’s novels When Dark Roots Hunt and When Dark Waters Burn were published by MidnightSun in May 2023 and June 2025.