Born in 1982, Lavanesan Swaminathan (Lavan S. Nathan) worked as a lawyer in Singapore for seven years, specialising in commercial litigation and corporate law. He obtained a Bachelor of Laws from National University of Singapore and a Master of Laws from New York University before undertaking a second Masters with Monash University in the field of Counselling Psychology.
The inspiration for Ashes To Ashes occurred when he realised that death was an everyday reality which many people found difficulty in accepting and coming to terms with. He wrote this novel to start the conversation on this topic and dispel fears in the process, as well as discuss the culturally-relevant issues of the present times.