About

I am the youngest of eight children and was born in a spooky three-hundred-year-old house in England. I grew up in the tiny town of Hatherleigh with stories of local legends, pixies, ghosts, and fairies.

A country girl at heart, I spent the entire school summer holidays camping in the backyard. I was often outside catching frogs, newts, and various other unsuspecting creatures. 

As a young child, I loved to create. I would draw mini storyboards (mostly about princesses and daring knights). At high school, English was my favourite subject because ‘work’ was writing stories!

One of my earliest memories is cuddling under the blankets as my mother read to me. It felt like magic as we explored different worlds from the comfort of my cosy bed. My mother and I also loved to visit the library van which came from the big library to supply books to our little town (pictured below). Those memories definitely shaped my future aspirations, but it would be a long time before I took myself seriously. I had a distant and wild dream to write books, but I never thought it was something I could actually do.

Fast forward a few years and I moved to Western Australia where I met my husband and found myself back in the country again. I spent several years working in community development for local government, before having my two beautiful boys. It was during this time I rediscovered children’s books and it became my turn to read stories to my own children. That’s when the magic returned. I guess it never really went away.

When I saw the Australian Writer’s Centre course, ‘Writing Picture Books‘, I immediately felt compelled to enrol. The course was brilliant and I was suddenly thrown into the world of writing, submissions, and many, MANY rejections. All the time, I was learning and growing. I joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and never, ever gave up on my dream.

Then one day, a publisher said yes. And it was worth every single moment of time and effort.

I’m now learning digital illustration and hope to combine my writing and art one day.

The journey continues…