I was born in Sydney in 1965. The fourth child and the fourth daughter! My dad promises me he wasn't disappointed when he heard the news, which was lucky as child number 5 was another girl!
So as you can imagine growing up in my house was a lot of fun and rather noisy.
My parents were journalists so there were always 'colourful characters' dropping in for dinner. As a kid I loved to impersonate these people. Even then I must've enjoyed observing the human condition.
Life took a downturn when I was in 5th class and my mother was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. She battled cancer for 10 years and died just after my 19th birthday. I think spending so much time in hospitals and around the sick must've been the reason I decided to become a nurse. No one else in my family had followed a medical path.
I trained at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in the days of 'hospital training' and later specialized in Oncology which is the care of cancer patients. The area I really liked was Bone Marrow Transplantation. I was head chemotherapy sister at the University College Hospital in London. They had the biggest transplant unit in Europe.
I loved nursing. The people I met and cared for were an endless source of inspiration enabling me to develop an empathy with the human condition, its frailties and spirit. Nursing probably made me a better writer.
I didn't write a word till I was 35 years old!!! Yes, almost one foot in the grave! In 2000 I did a Creative Writing Course via correspondence whilst recovering from Glandular Fever. I loved it, so straight after I did another course, at Sydney University with Libby Gleeson. It was with Libby that I found out about the Australian Society of Authors Mentorship program.
My application to the ASA's program was successful and Garry Crew was my mentor. The day I opened the letter to say I'd been successful was such an exciting one. I remember how much I screamed – my kids remember too!
My first novel 'White Lies' was written during the mentorship and Lothian published it in 2002. It was made a CBCA notable book for 2003.
I was on my way to really becoming a writer and since then I haven't stopped.
I live on Sydney's Northern Beaches (which is where Home and Away is filmed) with my hubby Michael and two kids Victoria and Nick. Well, I can't really say 'kids' as they are both now teenagers.
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