This is me with straight hair:

But usually, it’s curly:

And it probably all started here…

with this old picture book that was literally just that – a picture book.  No title, no author, no words at all – just pictures.  As a kid, I used to love this book.  I would study each page and make up a story to go with it.

My favourite page was this one…

I can remember laughing my head off as I made up dialogue for each of the chimps.

I love to laugh.

I also love to read, to write and to travel.

I’m a Primary school teacher and I’ve even studied my Masters of Education specialising in how kids learn to read and write.  That’s kind of funny though because no one taught me to read.  I was reading before I started Kindergarten and in Pre-School the teacher used to let me read a book to the class while she got the paints ready for afternoon art.

I was born on the 4^th of July in 1977.  Everyone remembers my birthday – being America’s Independence Day, which is a bummer because I’m hopeless at remembering other people’s birthdays.

I grew up on a farm in Jindabyne and some mornings, our old farmhouse was so cold I would wake up and see my breath, puffing out into the icy air.  I went to Primary school in Berridale and one of the best days there was when the author of Selby’s Secret – Duncan Ball – came to visit my school.  I remember that I missed out on a day of skiing with my brother, just so I could meet him.  Even way back then, I loved reading and writing.  Today, I still feel a buzz of excitement when I meet an author.  What a nerd, hey?

I always wanted to be a writer, a teacher and an actress.  I guess that makes me a drama queen who wants to write the show and direct it!  Deep down though, I guess I never thought that acting or writing were ‘real jobs’ so, after high school I moved to Canberra and studied teaching.

I’ve taught in London, England and Toronto, Canada as well as having various gigs around NSW.  I’ve mostly taught Primary school, but I have done some high school stuff as well.  I have a Bachelor of Education from Australian Catholic University and a Masters of Education from University of Wollongong.  I taught from 1999 until 2014.

But, writing’s where my heart is… and in 2009 my first novel Measuring Up was published.  It’s a young adult fiction about a guy called Feet and his brother Link who are surfing the same wave, even though they haven’t realised it yet.  This book is for kids aged 15+.  If that’s you, then you should definitely read it.

In 2014 I had a significant life changing moment and decided to leave mainstream teaching.  That moment was a bit like when Alice fell down the rabbit hole (Have you read Alice in Wonderland? You should – it’s a classic.).  Since then, I have been having adventure after adventure, meeting amazing people, doing amazing things and exploring the endless possibilities of my life.  I highly recommend significant life changing moments and rabbit holes – although they do feel a little bit strange at first.

Joining me on these adventures are my two beautiful girls – Olivia and Sophie.  Together, we live in Merimbula on the Far South Coast of NSW.  We all love reading, writing, learning, swimming, cooking and talking.  Oh, and watching movies.  We love to watch movies.

So, welcome to my website.  Click around, have a read, have a sticky beak and make sure you pull out the bottom drawers.