Cliff Taylor is an author and journalist who has lived and worked in numerous places around the world. He was born on Auckland's North Shore and later grew up on a small dairy farm at Makarau, attending Mahurangi College in Warkworth. He completed the journalism course at Auckland Technical Institute (now AUT) and began his journalistic career aged 17 as a reporter on the Auckland Star. Cliff has travelled widely, sailing around Indonesia and Borneo, riding an old Enfield motorcycle 7000km around India, trekking to the source of the Ganges, buying an olive grove in Spain, living in Barcelona and Brighton, and working as a freelance journalist in Uganda. He has written for a variety of publications including UK daily The Independent, various newspapers in Africa, the Herald on Sunday and the Sunday Star-Times. He also worked as a journalist and producer for eight years at the BBC World Service in London and Africa. The Spanish Garden is his fourth novel. Cliff enjoys trail running, walking in the mountains, and gardening, and is a keen forager for wild food. He currently lives in Baddeleys Beach on the Tawharanui Peninsula.