Fiona McIntosh (born 1960) is an English-born Australian author of adult and children's books. She has also written under the pen name Lauren Crow.
Early life and education
Fiona McIntosh was born in
Brighton
Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
, England, in 1960. As a child she spent some months in Ghana, West Africa, where her father worked for a mining company.
After studying marketing in Brighton followed by a stint in a public relations job in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, she travelled to Australia at the age of 21, where she met her future husband,Ian, in
Alice Springs
Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...
. They moved to
Adelaide
Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
, where they founded a monthly magazine, ''Travel News Australia''.
[
McIntosh wrote as a hobby before attending a writing workshop around 2000 in ]Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
led by writer Bryce Courtenay
Arthur Bryce Courtenay, (14 August 1933 – 22 November 2012) was a South African-Australian advertising director and novelist. He is one of Australia's best-selling authors, notable for his book '' The Power of One''.
Background and early ye ...
, who encouraged and mentored her.
Other activities
McIntosh founded a fantasy book club in Adelaide in the early 2000s, whose members included Sean Williams, Tony Shillitoe, Joel Shepherd
Joel Shepherd (born 1974 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian science fiction author. He moved to Perth, Western Australia with his family when he was seven, where he later studied film and television arts at Curtin University. He no ...
, Shane Dix, Lian Hearn, and David Cornish
David M. Cornish (born 1972) is an illustrator and fantasy writer from Adelaide, South Australia.
Biography
Cornish studied illustration at the University of South Australia, where in 1993 he began to compile a series of notebooks: over th ...
.[
She has run writing workshops and taught fantasy writing at ]TAFE
Technical and further education or simply TAFE () is the common name in Australia for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational courses. Colloquially also known ...
college.[
]
Career
McIntosh writes fantasy novels for adults and children.[
Her first novel was ''Betrayal'' (2001), which she wrote over five weeks. It was picked up by a publisher as the first in a trilogy]pen name
A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
of Lauren Crow.
In 2021 McIntosh signed a film rights deal with Monica Saunders-Weinberg, head of Hana Black Productions, to make a film of her wartime drama novel ''The Pearl Thief''. It is being adapted by producer Bruna Papandrea
Bruna Papandrea (born 1971) is an Australian film and television producer and the founder of production company Made Up Stories. Prior to Made Up Stories, Papandrea co-founded the production company Pacific Standard with Reese Witherspoon.
...
.[
In July 2024 she was writing her 46th book.][
In 2024 Storm Publishing signed a seven-book deal with McIntosh to publish her books in the UK and the US.
]
Personal life
, McIntosh and her husband live on a property in Riverton, South Australia
Riverton is a small town in the Mid North of South Australia, in the Gilbert Valley. It is situated on the Gilbert River, from which the town derives its name. Both the Gilbert Valley and Gilbert River were named after the South Australian pio ...
.[
]
Published works
Adult fiction
''Trinity''
*''Betrayal'' (2001)
*''Revenge'' (2002)
*''Destiny'' (2002)
''The Quickening''
*''Myrren's Gift
''Myrren's Gift'' is the first book in the Quickening (series) trilogy by Fiona McIntosh. It details the journeys of Wyl Thirsk.
Plot introduction
All Wyl Thirsk ever wanted was for his family to be happy, to be loyal to his monarch, King Ma ...
'' (2003)
*''Blood and Memory
''Blood & Memory'' is a fantasy novel by Fiona McIntosh. The novel was published by 2004 Voyager and is the second novel in '' The Quickening'' trilogy which began with ''Myrren's Gift
''Myrren's Gift'' is the first book in the Quickening ...
'' (2004)
*'' Bridge of Souls'' (2004)
''Percheron''
*''Odalisque
An odalisque (, ) was an enslaved chambermaid or a female attendant in a Turkish seraglio, particularly the court ladies in the household of the Ottoman sultan. In western European usage, the term came to mean the harem concubine, and refer ...
'' (2005)
*''Emissary'' (2006)
*''Goddess'' (2007)
''Valisar''
*'' Royal Exile'' (2008)
*''Tyrant's Blood'' (2009)
*''King's Wrath'' (2010)
''Jack Hawksworth'' series
*''Bye Bye Baby'' (2007, writing under the pen-name Lauren Crow)
*''Beautiful Death'' (2009)
Other novels
*''Fields of Gold'' (2010)
*''The Lavender Keeper'' (2012)
*''The Scrivener's Tale'' (2012, standalone novel set in the world of ''The Quickening'')
*''The French Promise'' (2013, sequel to ''The Lavender Keeper'')
*''The Tailor's Girl'' (2013)
*''Tapestry'' (2014)
*''Nightingale'' (2014)
*''The Last Dance'' (2015)
*''On The Scent of Purfume: The Making of the Perfumer's Secret'' (2015)
*''The Perfumer's Secret'' (2015)
*''The Chocolate Tin'' (2016)
*''The Tea Gardens'' (2017)
*''The Pearl Thief'' (2018)
*''The Diamond Hunter'' (2019)
*''The Champagne War'' (2020)
*''The Spy’s Wife'' (2021)
*''The Orphans'' (2022)
*''The Sugar Palace'' (2023)
*''The Fallen Woman'' (2024)
*''The Soldier's Daughter'' (2025, sequel to ''The Champagne War'')
Short stories
*''The Batthouse Girl'' (2009) in ''Thanks for the Mammaries'' (ed. Sarah Darmody)
Children's fiction
''Shapeshifter''
*''Severo's Intent'' (2007)
*''Saxten's Secret'' (2007)
*''Wolf Lair'' (2007)
*''King of the Beasts'' (2007)
Other works
*'' The Whisperer'' (2009)
*''The Rumpelgeist'' (2012)
*''Harry and Gran Bake a Cake'' (2025) with Sara Acton
Non fiction
*''How To Write Your Blockbuster'' (2015)
References
External links
Fiona McIntosh's website
Fiona McIntosh's Facebook Page
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntosh, Fiona
Australian fantasy writers
Australian crime writers
Australian people of Scottish descent
English people of Scottish descent
English emigrants to Australia
Writers from Brighton
1960 births
Living people
Australian women science fiction and fantasy writers
Australian science fiction writers
Australian women novelists
Australian women mystery writers
21st-century pseudonymous writers
Pseudonymous women writers