Tess Merlin is an ex-police officer and writer. Her first novel Rank was written from her lived experiences as a policewoman and as someone with personal experience of the trauma of being stalked. Tess writes from the peaceful shores in Gubbi Gubbi country.
Her second book Red Dirt Blue Lights was a Finalist in the 2025 Queensland Literary Awards. This historical fiction novella tells an emotional and subtly educational story of Australian Indigenous history, set in Cherbourg and surrounds.
