Born in Romania – the land of Vlad the Impaler – A. F. Sitaru discovered a passion for books and history especially 15^th and 16^th century at an early age and spent a lot of time reading and researching the period until she became quite the expert. As a child, she was fascinated by all the stories – some unwritten – of Vlad, the infamous, unlucky prince and Anne Boleyn, the tragic queen and second wife of Henry VIII. A. F. Sitaru spent all her summers growing up in a remote village in Romania with her grandparents, where she experienced a simple way of living and learnt how to fish, work the land, look after the farm animals, ride horses, find her way without a compass and even light a fire without matches. ‘I can quite easily and happily go back in time and live in the 16^th century,’ she states.

A chartered accountant by trade, she spent most of her life in the UK where she still currently lives. Her fascination with Vlad the Impaler and the Tudors gave her the idea for the Related to Dracula series.