Scott Westerfeld spends his southern hemisphere summers in Sydney, Australia, and his northern hemisphere summers in New York City. He was born in Texas and has been a musician, software game designer and ghost-writer; but writing under his own name turned out to be the most fun. He is not nearly as cool as Hunter in So Yesterday (he says) which won the 2005 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction, but his writing definitely is. His novels have been named New York Times Notable Books of the Year, made the Times' Essential Summer Reading List, and awarded the Philip K Dick Special Citation. He has contributed essays and stories to Scifi.com, Nerve.com, Nerve, and Book Forum. He has two series' Uglies and Midnighters which won the Aurealis award for Best Young Adult Fantasy and Penguin have also published So Yesterday and Peeps. Scott's steam-punk saga begins with Leviathan, continues in Behemoth and concludes with Goliath.