Poet and short story writer Stephen Guppy lives on Vancouver Island. He is the author of "Another Sad Day at the Edge of the Empire" and the poetry collections "Understanding Heaven", which was shortlisted for the BC Book Prize/Dorothy Livesay Award for Poetry, and "Blind Date With The Angel: The Diane Arbus Poems". A new short story collection entitled "The Work of Mercy" is also forthcoming from Thomas Allen Publishers, containing the story "Downwind", which was shortlisted for The Journey Prize. "The Fire Thief" is his first novel.