Graeme Lay grew up in coastal Taranaki, which imbued him with a lifelong love of the sea.

He has published over 40 books: novels for adults and young adults, collections of short stories and travel writing.

Many of his books are set in the South Pacific islands, where he travels widely and there finds literary inspiration.

His fiction trilogy based on the life of English explorer Captain James Cook became bestsellers. At one stage all three novels featured on the New Zealand Fiction Bestseller list. Lay also devised and edited five collections of the bestselling collections of New Zealand short short stories.