Mariëlle Renssen worked for 12 years at the largest publisher of illustrated books in Southern Africa (today Penguin Random House South Africa). She progressed from senior book editor to publisher and then writer, after which she turned to freelancing. She is the author of many books, ranging in subject from marathon running, meditation, labyrinths, and mazes to a teenager's personal story of living with dyslexia. Thereafter, she turned to travel writing and has since had many illustrated books published on her adventure travels, embarked on with husband, Hirsh Aronowitz, and a traveler friend, Keith Titley, along the back roads and throughout the wilds of Southern Africa.