The test suite failed when I tried to install the module (Strawberry Perl 5.16, Windows 7 pro 64bit), I changed line 96 of Module::Starter::Simple.pm from:

if ( not $self->{author} ) {
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To

if ( ( not $self->{author} ) && ( $^O ne 'MSWin32' ) ) {
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So it'll fall through to:

croak "Must specify an author\n" unless $self->{author};
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rather than fall in a heap because getpwuid isn't implemented in this platform. So yes, you'll have to provide a value fo author, but at least this way the test suite will pass, the module will install without a force and you'll be told what to do to make it work. As I say, I'll look into the problem in more detail and submit an appropriate patch when I get home.

Update: added to explanation for clarity.

Update: Patch submitted.