Jon Berkeley was born in Dublin. He has worked as a freelance illustrator for over twenty years and has turned more recently to writing. Jon has lived and worked in Sydney, Hong Kong, London and Dublin and now lives in a small town in Catalonia with his wife, Orna, and their five children, along with five cats, one dog and a small colony of stick insects. He wrote much of THE PALACE OF LAUGHTER in his head while walking the dog. You can visit him online at www.holytrousers.com.