I spent my early years in suburban Naarm/Melbourne, the middle child of five. At school I was often lost in my imagination, running through scenarios in my head where I rescued all the kids in my class, or at least the ones I liked, from a child-eating dragon.
My school reports said a version of ‘doesn’t apply herself’ which really meant ‘doesn’t stop looking out the window’. But I loved being outside and spent a lot of time up trees or hanging out with the animals that were filling up our backyard - chooks, ducks, rabbits, pet mice, cats, and dogs. Needing more room, we moved to the outskirts of the city where we added horses, a goat and more dogs to our brood.
In my family we didn’t really think about what we wanted to do after finishing school. We were mostly expected to work in factories like my dad. But I wanted to be a writer and make up magical worlds where wonderful and not so wonderful things happened. So when I left school to work in a plastics factory I also began to study writing at night. Unfortunately, I listened to a little voice in my head that told me I didn’t belong there so I decided to leave.
Years later, I studied to be a youth worker and worked with young people with a disability. It was really rewarding work but I still wanted to be a writer and finally I had the confidence to put my fingers to the keyboard. I wish I hadn’t been so scared earlier on, but I’m really glad that I finally gave it a go.
I love to sit in a café with my laptop and write funny stories where the characters are learning to find their way through the big emotions that are a part of life. When I leave the café I go home to my partner, our two teenagers and two dogs in our old house in the northern suburbs of Naarm/Melbourne.