Michelle Path is an Australian award-winning children's author as well as running Purple Pony Publishing. She lives on a farmlet in picturesque West Gippsland which she shares with her 4 horses, 3 dogs and a tank full of goldfish. Michelle has always felt drawn to writing and began writing, particularly fantasy stories, as a teenager. To date she has published 21 children's books including 6 in her award-winning Xalien the Purple Alien series. Xalien the Purple Alien has won a bronze Bizziebaby award as well as a Purple Dragonfly Honorable Mention award and a Story Monsters Approved award. Xalien the Purple Alien: Xalien Goes to School won a silver Bizziebaby award and Xalien the Purple Alien has won a gold Bizziebaby award. Recently her book Phantasmagorical Phobias won the New Apple book award for short story fiction. The Cowboy Who Was Scared of Horses was a silver medalist in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. Michelle has always had a vivid imagination and loves to create interesting characters and places. She likes to incorporate messages and morals into her stories, often using humour or irony to capture children's imagination and making reading an enjoyable experience. Her books encourage tolerance and kindness, caring for animals and the environment, things she highly values. Her books encourage family time where they can be discussed which also help parents instill children with important values in a subtle way. When Michelle isn't working on her stories she can be found riding her horses, often competing in dressage competitions. She enjoys keeping fit and taking her dogs for long walks. She is a keen music fan and enjoys going to concerts and the theatre.