“G’day”. I’m an Australian Author/Artist. I just thought I’d mention that as I’m often confused with another author from the USA.
I have been an avid reader since childhood. (I was going to say ‘when I was a child’ but I don’t think my imagination has really matured along with my body, age and intellect. However, I don’t think that’s a bad thing! How can you write and illustrate for children without placing yourself in the person of your five year old self?). Even after all these decades I still write my stories while relating to my ‘inner child’.
My favourite subjects at Primary School were Composition and Art, and this expanded to include Drama in High School. Oh yes that is me – the seemingly confident, flamboyant ‘out there’ performer (we’ll not get into the fragile, insecure alter ego of artistic people here).
As with any aspiring writer, I dreamed of being published one day, but thought it just a pipe dream…like being able to fly, or being a superhero. Oh, and having a pony! I actually did get a pony in my late twenties. Woohooo! But at that age you realise that if you fall off, it will hurt or worse, so as my children came along, the pony had to go.
I loved reading to my children when they were young, and then I became involved in various ‘Parent’ groups where my creative writing and artistic talents were finely honed while creating newsletters, reports and promoting public events. These skills were updated in the work environment where I was voluntarily involved in the writing and publication of in-house social club magazines and newsletters.
I have enjoyed writing short stories and plays and was in the process of reformatting a Christmas play into a book (with the illusive dream of one day having it published) when a friend, who had often encouraged me to publish my stories, prompted me to create a picture book for my Grandson who lives overseas.
This was the motivation I needed to write a book and get it published while my grandson is still young enough to appreciate it! Thank you Jean! Bug-a-Boo the Kangaroo is the result and was self-published in 2017.
The aforementioned Christmas story, about a little mouse who lives in ‘that’ stable, was then released towards the end of 2019 under the title The Stable Mouse – A Christmas Story.
I am also a member of a couple of local writing groups which I am thoroughly enjoying as a sideline, so I have many short stories suitable for all ages; from children through to adults. Some of these stories have been included in local writer groups publications. I also plan to release a book of my short stories sometime in the future.
I began writing my Memoir a few years ago, but as I tell people, ‘I am not dead yet, so it’s not finished!’
I hope you all, young and old, enjoy my books as they come along. As my tagline says, ‘Stories for children – enjoyed by adults’