Bio
I was born in Castlemaine, a beautiful town in the goldfields region of Victoria, Australia and have lived in the area all my life.
When I was 15 I left school but I was 45 before I accidentally became a writer.
There was no television in our house when I was growing up and I read a lot.
I think I learnt how to write by reading books other people wrote.
Now I write picture books as well as novels for younger readers and teenagers.
Some of my books have won awards and been published in many countries.
I feel very lucky to have discovered something I’m good at.
The A-Z of things I like:
- Autumn
- Blue Wrens
- Clinkers lollies
- Donkeys – especially the ones that came to my last book launch.
- Echidnas
- Fairy wrens and Frosty mornings
- Going down roads I’ve never been before
- Hammocks
- Imagining
- Jack Russell Terriers
- Knitting scarves and flying Kites.
- Licking Licorice flavoured ice cream. Lollies any kind but especially Clinkers.
- Melting Moments biscuits
- Nutmeg seeds – when you grate them and see how beautiful they are inside
- Op shopping
- Pigs because they have such sweet smiles.
- Quizzes from the newspaper – my family and I do them together on weekends, sometimes over the telephone if we are not all in the one place.
- Rainbows, Robins, Reading and (Jack) Russell Terriers
- Stargazing and Sucking the chocolate off Clinkers (Simultaneously would be excellent)
- Thimbles, Terriers (Jack Russell ones)
- Ukuleles – on which my daughter plays the William Tell Overture.
- Violets – April Violets was my grandma’s favourite perfume.
- Wind in the Willows – one of my favourite books, written by Kenneth Grahame
- X is for Marimba, which doesn’t start with X but is a large wooden musical instrument similar to a large Xylophone – I have one which my son made in the lounge room.
- Yellow – because it’s the colour of happiness
- Zinnias because my nana always grew them in her garden.