Long before I saw myself as a writer, I was always scribbling something. As a little girl, I conjured miniature magazines out of scraps of paper. In my early teens, I embarked on my first novel – a story of young romance – and I shared chapters with my friends in the school playground.

When life got me down, or conversely, made me deliriously happy, I’d pick up my pen as a way to share my thoughts and feelings. In between ‘proper’ jobs, I’d inevitably begin a new work of fiction until life got in the way again, and I’d set the pages aside.

Brought up in England, I lived in Toronto, Dallas, New York and Wellington before settling in Sydney. Throughout my travels and then raising a family, sitting at a keyboard all day and penning fiction remained my dream career.  But stints as an actress, a journalist, publisher, event manager and PR consultant – and the pressing need to bring in an income – took precedence. Finally, I took the plunge, gave up the daily grind and moved to a cottage in NSW’s beautiful Southern Highlands with my imaginary friends.

To learn my new craft, I studied online at Curtis Brown Creative, undertook an Advanced Writers Masterclass with Lynn Hightower at UCLA (USA) and was a nominee for 2017 James Kirkwood Prize in Creative Writing. In 2019, I was named in the final six shortlist for the Grindstone International Novel. I was nominated by Books+Publising in 2021 as one of Australia’s most promising new authors.

Finally, those long-awaited novels took shape.

My home, which I share with my husband, is in the village of Bundanoon, where we enjoy cold, frosty winters and fresh, warm summers. Around us, native animals and birds abound, from kangaroos, wombats and echidnas to kookaburras, cockatoos and king parrots. Autumn is my favourite time and through my study window I watch as leaves turn vivid red, yellow, purple and orange – a perfect recipe for creativity.