Read Dangerously Placed Online
Authors: Nansi Kunze
Dangerously Placed (23 page)
I'm extremely grateful to everyone who helped me write this book. Many thanks to my family and friends for their enthusiasm; to Zoe Walton, Kimberley Bennett and the rest of the crew at Random House for their patience, wisdom and hard work; to Detective Sergeant Matthew Height for his helpful answers to my questions about police procedure; to Jan Scherpenhuizen for telling me that all I had to do now was make the chair; to Jake for putting up with my writing time so sweetly; and, above all, to Michael for being utterly awesome and for making the whole thing possible.
Nansi Kunze grew up surrounded by books in Australia and the UK, but strangely never had a childhood ambition to become a writer. After studying European languages and ancient history at university she spent several years doing extremely important jobs, such as teaching overseas-trained doctors how to pronounce rude words, helping senior citizens email photos of their grandchildren and showing high school students how to mummify each other. One delusional day in 2000, the idea that she might be able to write a book for adults popped into Nansi's head out of the blue. It was only after producing a lot of grown-up rubbish and winning two FAW Mary Grant Bruce Awards with her first attempts at young adult fiction that she realised her mistake. Since her YA novel
Mishaps
was published in 2008, she has been able to lead the awesome life of a full-time writer (which, it turns out, is even more fun than teaching people rude words). Her hobbies include reading manga, growing unusual vegetables and dressing like she's off to a costume party. She lives on a small farm overlooking the Victorian Alps with her husband and son and their cat, Schrödinger.
Pen O'Connell is, without a doubt, the unluckiest girl at Callindra Secondary College. Her dream date's just fallen through, her dog has literally eaten her homework, and don't even mention the incident at school camp. But when Pen meets Sebastian Meyer, teenage genius and genetics expert, she begins to wonder if everything that happens to her really is just bad luck.
Could the bizarre theory that's turned every teacher in the school against Sebastian explain why Pen is more likely to get a head injury than a hot date? Why does Pen's name strike terror into the heart of pop princess Sereena? And just how far will Pen go to get what she deserves?