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Mairi MacMillan lives on the wet and windy west coast of Scotland, brewing dark tales and even darker cups of tea — despite her son’s advice that five minutes is the maximum steeping time required. After an intentionally dramatic time at university, she left Glasgow’s urban sprawl many years ago, and now spends her days weaving romances containing characters that may or may not be inspired by some of her quirkier kinfolk.

When not corrupting perfectly good characters with morally grey choices, she can be found wild-swimming in a sea-loch described locally as ‘baltic,’ or nose-deep in books with heat levels to compensate. She’s currently plotting her escape from the everyday grind in a yet-to-be-acquired camper van, much to the amusement of her nearly-grown children. Her husband remains hopeful that one day she’ll get around to sorting out her clutter — and that he might be invited along on any trips!

Mira Manga is a London-based writer, editor, and songwriter. She has worked at LUSH since 2000 and was formerly the editor and lead writer of The Lush Times, the brand’s much-loved customer newspaper. In her spare time, Mira has written and edited for a range of gaming publications and websites. She is also the author of the first edition of Cosmetics to Go, now refreshed, revitalised, and expanded with new content.