Fran Cusworth is an Australian author and freelance writer, who lives in Melbourne with her husband and two young sons. Her new and fourth novel, The Near Miss, is a suburban family comedy which sees three very different people thrown together after a near-death accident. Grace, hardworking and tired, wants another baby. But she's dealing with debt, a manic 4-year-old and a jobless husband determined to make his inventions into reality. Can both Grace and Tom get their way, or will competing dreams tear their marriage apart? Eddy analyses risk for a living, but his insecurities have brought his own life to a halt. He won't let go of the flighty, unfaithful Romy, but will he ever risk believing in himself? Melody is trying to raise her son Skip in the city while holding true to her hippie lifestyle. But will past mistakes and judgement from other parents force her to leave her beliefs behind? The Near Miss is about real life aspirations, and whether you can chase your dreams at the same time as raising children and paying the bills. It's about friendship, and how the people you meet in a moment, can change your life forever.
Fran's earlier novels were Sisters of Spicefield, The Love Child, and Hopetoun Wives. Fran is a nurse who has worked as a newspaper and newswire journalist.