Carol Ryles is an Australian author who began her professional life as a registered nurse and then moved to Hainan Island, China, where she worked in occupational health, learned Mandarin and tutored English at various institutions. She now holds a BA in English (Hons 1) and a PhD focussing on the process of writing in the genres of fantasy fiction and steampunk.

She is a graduate of Clarion West 2008, and has worked as a Steering Committee member and editorial consultant for Trove (renamed Tenderfoot) an online journal of creative arts from The University of Western Australia. Her stories have appeared in a number of Australian publications including Eidolon 1, Aurealis #145 and The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror (2013).

When not writing, Carol enjoys the art of quilting and is also turning her backyard into a forest. She blogs at carolryles.net  and tweets at twitter.com/CarolRyles.

The Eternal Machine is her debut novel.