Marétha Marais was born in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, in 1968. After majoring in Communications and Criminology, she became a secretary at a Consulting Engineering Company. Thirty three years later she still works in the Construction industry as a Bid and Compliance Officer. A prolific reader for the first forty-nine years of her life, she decided, when she turned fifty, to put her communications degree to good use and start writing children’s fiction. Easier said than done – she is forever thankful to Nawaal D at Penguin Random House, who has convinced her not to give up and finish the Creative Writing Short Course. She successfully completed the course, and this has led to an invite from author Mike Nicol and Editor Claire Strombeck to participate in their Masterclass. In one year, she completed her first novel, Fat Boy no More, and is currently busy with the second instalment in the series – Former Fat Boy.