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I was born on Good Friday in Sydney in 1961. That must mean I'm very good.
The Growing Years : I grew up the eldest of two children in Kempsey, on the Mid North Coast of NSW. My father was a Police Officer in the NSW Police Force and my mother was a nurse. Something interesting was always happening in our household and I had a very exciting childhood growing up as a child of a country Policeman. Living close to the sea was lots of fun. I remember many exciting times especially when the flood rains came and the town flooded; it meant we couldn't get to school (yippee) and had to move out of our house because we lived by the river. Maybe that's when my love for adventure really grew. I was always keen for an adventure. I enjoyed making up games and stories and because I was the eldest, I got to do this (not because I insisted or anything). My brother and I rode our bikes day in and day out with the neighborhood kids, always accompanied by our devoted Kelpie dog, Dusty. When we weren't on our bikes, we swung from willow trees that we tied into long ropes and pretended to be super-heroes with our mates. We swam in the river, made cubby houses in old tank stands, and always seemed to be doing something fun. Weekends and holidays were spent at the beach and I even became a 'mermaid' (that's what they called junior girl lifesavers back then). Life was bursting with opportunity and adventure and I threw myself into it. Ballet, sports, the beach and musical stage productions were my passions. My first stage production experience was as a cast member in 'Oliver Twist' when I was just 12 years old.
My High School Years: I spent my High School years in Armidale, NSW. I really enjoyed school and all types of sport. Hockey, athletics, cross-country and swimming were some of my favourite sports. I studied Ballet for 13 years and also joined the Armidale Musical Society. I loved being on the stage and was a cast member in many shows until I left Armidale. I even had a go at being a movie star when I was 15 and auditioned to be an extra in the movie 'Little Boy Lost' which was filmed in the Armidale region. Have I mentioned I was very shy and quiet? Hmmm, probably because I'm not (hee hee).
That's me dressed in the costume for the King and I production. I had to perform a long dance wearing this tall headdress. After finishing Year 12, I continued with my studies for another three years at the Armidale College of Advanced Education to become a teacher. Sadly in 1983 when I graduated, there were 12,000 unemployed teachers looking for work.
So I started on another adventure.
Hello Police Force, here I come:
I applied to join the Australian Federal Police
Force in Canberra, ACT. It just so happened they were looking
for Tertiary Graduates and I was looking for a job. I intended only working as
As a Police woman I worked in General Duties and Criminal Investigation Division. Working in the Police Force meant every day was different. You never knew what might happen.
Yes, this really is me.
Marriage and motherhood: I am married to a wonderful man I have known since I was 15 years old. We went to school together, imagine that! We have three terrific kids, Sarah, Samuel and Julian. I hung up my Police gun holster for a full-time job raising my family. Definitely my best career move yet. Some days I'm so busy, I almost think it would be easier to live in a mobile home. I am a very good mother, except when I'm a little bit naughty and do things my children think are dangerous or crazy. But... I don't think jumping off mountains hang-gliding or going whitewater rafting in icy cold water in winter is neither dangerous or crazy. Walking with my children through dark woods in Alaska, singing "We're going on a bear hunt" to scare the bears away was perhaps dangerous and crazy. My children didn't think it was funny at the time, but we were having an adventure!
! My family
Life 's Adventures so far: I am an adventure girl at heart and love having a wild time out there in the big wide world. I have also been fortunate to have traveled the world and visited many countries. Some of my favourite places have become the back drop for my books. I like to choose exotic settings. Here's a collage of some of my adventures
So... now I snowboard on my board most of the time, my butt and my back the rest of the time and face plant occasionally, but it is much more fun than skiing. I am now a Shredding Betty (that's what girl boarders are called)
Writing: As a child, I grew up with a vivid imagination and I loved to make up stories and plot out character roles for my brother and I to play in our games. I really loved reading and still do. I read at least four books a month. My mother tells me I used to read the Sydney phone book as a baby. I read trillions of books as a kid, mostly Enid Blyton Adventure stories and books on Myths and legends. I have always loved the written word. I love paper, pens, books, computers, electronic appliances and all types of technology that create words. I guess you could say I'm a 'yuppy' writer. I started dabbling in creative writing about 1996 and enrolled in some night classes at Uni. I wrote adult stories at first and then penned poems and short stories for my children based on the things that happened to them. Sometimes I turned their nightmares into a poem that made the monsters less scary and funny and meant I got some sleep at night. My first official foray into writing was to undertake the Journalism course at the Australian College of Journalism in 2001. Although I really enjoyed this, I also discovered along the way I wanted to write fiction. My next course was 'The Professional Children's Writing Course' with ACJ in 2002. Now, it seemed, I was on the road to what I suspected was my true path in life. I had a fabulous tutor, Marg McAlister (Writing for Success), who encouraged my work. I undertook a further three month mentorship with Marg through Career Booster and haven't looked back. I have continued to learn from day one and through the support and friendship of fellow writers, I have expanded my knowledge of writing and what is involved in becoming an author. It is a process of learning curves and development every day.
This is me when I discovered my book in a bookstore in Sydney
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a Police woman
for a few years but ended up staying for 12 years.
I also love the snow and so learnt to ski. After skiing on my legs
most of the time, my
butt, my head and most other parts of my body the rest of the time, I thought I would try
snowboarding.
