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About the
Author
I live in a small coastal village on the western side of the Coromandel
peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. Our house, an early wooden bungalow built sometime between 1910 and 1920, is 50 metres away from the water's edge and next to a large grassy park. Four huge
Pohutukawa trees stand guard over our house. In the early part of summer they are covered with crimson flowers, sometimes staying in flower for Christmas.
Our part of the Coromandel is called the Thames Coast. The road winds around bay after bay of small rock fringed beaches, each framed with
Pohutukawa. The coast has many moods. Sometimes the water is jade green and catches the light of the sun in ripples of silver. Sometimes the water is brown and froths up high on the rocks. Always the water is an inspiration. The energy of the coast is so much part of my writing. The sunsets, the colours, the light, and the setting moon are all magic.
I began writing when I was about nine. Small stories and poems were published in a local newspaper and in the children's pages of a national magazine. The highlight of my early career was winning a short story competition.
When I became involved in study, a teaching career and then the role of motherhood,
I stopped writing. In my late thirties I began to write poetry again. I used the medium of poetry to work through
some challenges in my life. I called the poetry collection Inside
Out. It remains in a box in the cupboard, but some of pieces have 'escaped' to appear in a
micro press publication.
Poetry is my first love. For me it feels that fewer words give a stronger message. I believe that this is why I enjoy writing picture books for children. With a word limit, the core message is uncluttered. The pictures and the
words merge to make a story.
Writing educational readers is a challenge of a different kind. I enjoy the crafting of
levelled stories relevant to the experiences of the learner. It gives me real joy to know that my work will help a child to read.
The readers go all over the world, and it's exciting when a
reader, or a picture book, is translated into another language.
My current challenge
is to write junior fiction novels. For me it's a whole
process - taking the core idea and moving the story
outwards.
I teach part-time at a school in Thames. As well as writing
and teaching, I enjoy spending time with family and friends,
walking and tramping, fishing,
swimming, and reading. I live with my husband,
Derek, and our cat Josie.
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