Alex Smith is an English teacher, Creative Writing tutor, Office administrator extraordinare, mother, former textile merchant and adventurer. One of her great writing inspirations is travel. She has visited 30 countries around the world, walked the Camino de Santiago across the top of Northern Spain, hiked in Turkey, lived in mainland China, worked in Taiwan, sojourned for a month of silent meditation at a golden temple in Chiang-Mai Thailand, and road-tripped through Iran and Southern Africa to the boarder of the Democratic Republic of Congo. ‘Four Drunk Beauties’ won the 2011 Nielsen Booksellers’ Choice Award in South Africa. Agency Blue, received a silver medal at the Sanlam Youth Literature awards. Her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies and her writing has been translated into German, Swedish, Turkish, Afrikaans, Setswana and Xitsonga. She has been shortlisted for the Caine Prize She lives in beautiful Ireland with her husband and two sons.