“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story.
You never quite know where they'll take you.”

- Beatrix Potter -

Long ago before I became a writer I was a traveller, a typist, a cleaner, an ice-cream girl in a cinema and a hot-dog person.

Now I live in a small village not far from the city of Dunedin, New Zealand, with one extra nice husband, and a gentle garden. I have two adult children and two grandchildren.

I have published stories, poems and articles for both adults and children. Over sixty books for children, from early readers through to Young Adults; plus one adult's novel. Many of my adult short stories have won competitions, while four of my children's books, The Memory Tree (Scholastic NZ), Call of the Cruins (Scholastic NZ), Tussock (Walker Books Australia) and Finding Monkey Moon (Walker Books Australia & Candlewick USA) reached the finals of the New Zealand Children's Book Awards.

I have always loved books and cannot imagine life without them.

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