L. J. Kendall failed to drown on five separate occasions on Sydney’s northern beaches. He worked in the IT R&D field while extremely happily married for 30 years to an adventurous mediaeval scholar 22 years his senior until her death in 2014. He shares a house with about 7,000 books, and spends most of his time in his imagination. He’s writing The Leeth Dossier because the main character has been demanding it – and she can be pretty insistent. Leeth’s story has been over 25 years in the making. He’s writing it both to bring her to life and to find out what happens to her in the end. Luke believes honesty is the best policy, that 95% of people are good and kind, and that – with a little luck – you get out of life what you put in. His favourite movie is either Fifth Element or Ponyo.