Debra Adelaide has worked as a university lecturer and researcher, and is now a writer, freelance editor, and occasional book reviewer. She is the author of the bestselling parenting anthologies Motherlove (1996), Motherlove II (1997) and Cutting The Cord (1998); the novels Serpent Dust (1998) and The Household Guide to Dying (2008); and the short story anthology, Acts of Dog (2003). She has been a regular panellist at literary festivals and judge of literary awards, including the Miles Franklin Award, the Vogel Award, the Patrick White Award and the Nita B Kibble Award for Women Writers.