Diamonds Are a Teen's Best Friend (16 page)

Big smoochies …

to the literate guinea pigs (again),

to Michael Bourret for all his efforts

and to Linsay Knight for knowing that Marilyn Monroe is as current as she ever was.

And, of course, more thanks than I could ever express to the most fascinating creature that ever lived … Marilyn Monroe herself.

Allison Rushby’s childhood dream was to be a ballerina with pierced ears. She forgot to study ballet past the age of six, but got the pierced ears and instead began a writing career as a journalism student at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. Within a few months she had slunk sideways into studying Russian. By the end of her degree she had learnt two very important things: she didn’t want to be a journalist and … well, okay, maybe just one important thing. (Maths was never her strong point.)

A number of years spent writing for wedding magazines almost sent her crazy. After much whingeing about how hard it would be, she began her first novel. That is, her boyfriend told her to shut up, sit down and get writing. It worked, because Allison has since had three novels published (but sadly, that boyfriend now thinks he knows what he's talking about all the time).

These days Allison writes full-time, mostly with her Devon Rex cats, Vi and Flo, purring contentedly on her lap. (Okay, not quite true – they’re usually on the floor trying to gouge each other’s eyes out.)

You can read more about Allison, her freaky cats and smarty-pants partner at
http://www.allisonrushby.com
.