Karen Hughes was born in Tamworth, Australia, and grew up on a large cattle station on the Liverpool Plains. She studied Law and Asian Studies at the Australian National University, and spent the next ten years working as a corporate lawyer in Canberra. In 2005 she studied herbal medicine with the legendary Dorothy Hall, before moving to the NSW north coast and starting a corporate training business with her husband, Andrew. Karen now lives in the Hunter Valley with Andrew and their four children. 'The Shaman's Secret' is the second book in her Kalika Magic series for children aged 8-12.