Taryn Bashford grew up in England, attending school near London where she enjoyed English Literature, editing the school magazine, and competing in many sports including track & field ; she represented English Schools in the 400m event.

 

After high school, Taryn worked as an au pair in New York City before studying English Literature at Exeter University in Devon. She paid her way through university with a job at BBC Radio Devon, the first step in what Taryn hoped would be a career in journalism or editorial. On graduating with honours, England's recession meant these jobs were in short supply.

 

She targeted publishers, none-the-less, and ended up in an advertising sales role at Haymarket Publishing. Eight short years later, at the age of 29, (having fitted in a stint of backpacking around the world including six months as a chalet chef in 

Colorado), she was heading up Carlton Television’s Internet Agency and was one of the youngest CEOs in London.

 

Having reached her career goals, Taryn decided she needed to get back to her writing. She emigrated to Sydney, Australia where she hoped to enjoy a more laid back lifestyle which might allow time for writing. However one recruitment business and two children later, Taryn was no further toward her goal of becoming a full-time writer. The family moved to Queensland to facilitate her new role as a health freelance writer, and in the hope she could turn her hand to writing as a career.

 

This finally happened in 2013 when Taryn wrote Sassy Jam (unpublished) which won Varuna House’s Writing Fellowship later that year and then in 2014, the same novel won the Publishing Introduction Program with Varuna House in conjunction with Scribe Publishing. Taryn was also awarded a local art’s council grant for promising new artist. Taryn finished the three book Sassy Series (unpublished) before turning to the world of tennis and telling Harper's story. The Harper Effect was one of the winners in Pitch Wars USA 2015 and was short-listed for the Publishing Pathways competition run by Varuna House in conjunction with Pan Macmillan Publishing in February 2016. Pan Macmillan offered Taryn a two-book deal and published The Harper Effect in December 2017 in Australia, and Skyhorse Publishing took it to the American market in June 2018. Taryn's second YA novel, The Astrid Notes, was published in 2019.

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Taryn also writes outside of the YA market, turning her hand to romantic suspense in The Tide Trilogy. Currently, she is researching and writing a historical novel set in the world of female artists in 1800 Paris.