About me
I was born in 1975 on the Isle of Man and spent my childhood there, in Sudan, in Papua New Guinea and in Australia. I did lots of my daydreaming in planes, trains and boats including one boat that my dad made with a glass base so my little sister and I could see fish and coral going past underneath us. For a little while I had a mouse and the best present my mum and dad ever gave me (apart from my sister) was my own piano.
My favourite books were the Milly-Molly-Mandy stories by Joyce Lankester Brisley, the Magic Faraway Tree stories by Enid Blyton, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and the Ramona stories by Beverly Cleary. I relate most to Beezus Quimby, Ramona’s big sister, especially in the story where she gets the terrible hair cut. I have had a few of those.
Now I live Melbourne near a river and I have an enormous black cat called Florence. As well as writing books for children I teach sociology at a university, make dolls, nests and the occasional skirt and have cups of tea with friends in my garden. I like travelling and still try to do as much daydreaming as possible on planes, trains and boats.
