Question and Answer:
Why do you write?
I write because, for me, it feels wrong not to write. It is fun to create new characters, new worlds and new stories. Sitting at my desk, writing, is like being on a new adventure each day. It gives me great satisfaction to see other people enjoy my words or be touched by them in some way.
Where do your ideas come from?
Ideas for stories come from all over the place. My first book, Magic Mummy, was inspired by my children. To them, I sometimes seemed magical. I had magic eyes – I could see when they were getting up to mischief. I had magic lips – I could kiss their bumps and bruises to make the hurt go away. Magic Mummy is a story about the magical things that all mums do every day.
One day I was looking at my daughters’ ABC chart. What if, instead of ‘A is for Apple, B is for Bee..,’ the alphabet could be even more exciting? My daughters loved fairies and it seemed that most of the children I knew loved pirates. So with this in mind, I wrote two more manuscripts; ABC Fairies and ABC Pirates.
The House of 12 Bunnies, which was published in 2011, came from a story that my eldest daughter wrote when she was eight, called The House of 99 Kids. With this story, she imagined a house where heaps of children lived, and what each of the rooms in that house would look like.
What did you do before you were a writer?
Amongst other things, I have been a university student, a dishwasher in a hotel, a teacher at a Tafe College, a remuneration analyst, and a clothes designer/business owner. But the best jobs are two that I am doing now – being a mum and a writer.
What else do you like, besides writing?
I love to spend time with my daughters, and with my family and friends. I like to read, see movies and go to the theatre. I enjoy working on a small business that I run with my youngest daughter called Laced with Love Designs. And I like sushi and chocolate - but not at the same time :-)
What are your plans for the future?
I have a great life, so I don’t want to change it too much.
As well being a writer of picture books, I would like to be a published novelist, and the author of a best-selling junior fiction series. Mainly I hope that I can keep writing and that lots and lots of people will want to read my books.
I write because, for me, it feels wrong not to write. It is fun to create new characters, new worlds and new stories. Sitting at my desk, writing, is like being on a new adventure each day. It gives me great satisfaction to see other people enjoy my words or be touched by them in some way.
Where do your ideas come from?
Ideas for stories come from all over the place. My first book, Magic Mummy, was inspired by my children. To them, I sometimes seemed magical. I had magic eyes – I could see when they were getting up to mischief. I had magic lips – I could kiss their bumps and bruises to make the hurt go away. Magic Mummy is a story about the magical things that all mums do every day.
One day I was looking at my daughters’ ABC chart. What if, instead of ‘A is for Apple, B is for Bee..,’ the alphabet could be even more exciting? My daughters loved fairies and it seemed that most of the children I knew loved pirates. So with this in mind, I wrote two more manuscripts; ABC Fairies and ABC Pirates.
The House of 12 Bunnies, which was published in 2011, came from a story that my eldest daughter wrote when she was eight, called The House of 99 Kids. With this story, she imagined a house where heaps of children lived, and what each of the rooms in that house would look like.
What did you do before you were a writer?
Amongst other things, I have been a university student, a dishwasher in a hotel, a teacher at a Tafe College, a remuneration analyst, and a clothes designer/business owner. But the best jobs are two that I am doing now – being a mum and a writer.
What else do you like, besides writing?
I love to spend time with my daughters, and with my family and friends. I like to read, see movies and go to the theatre. I enjoy working on a small business that I run with my youngest daughter called Laced with Love Designs. And I like sushi and chocolate - but not at the same time :-)
What are your plans for the future?
I have a great life, so I don’t want to change it too much.
As well being a writer of picture books, I would like to be a published novelist, and the author of a best-selling junior fiction series. Mainly I hope that I can keep writing and that lots and lots of people will want to read my books.
