I grew up in a small country town in Europe with my nose buried in books. When I was not reading I was chasing wasps in the garden, playing with my friend’s bunnies or exploring the fields and woods behind my parents’ house. I wanted to be an artist. I wanted to be a ZOO keeper. I ended up studying agricultural economics. After that I worked at the Department of Foreign Affairs in the capital city. I travelled.
In my early twenties I moved to Australia. For none less than the love of my life (he is still by my side and is by far my greatest supporter). I went back to university to study financial planning and in the following years I held various jobs in financial planning and funds management company corporate governance, risk and compliance. The work was varied. The part I enjoyed the most? Writing and research. Financial plans; investment research; client reports; policies and procedures; company, board and committee reports; creating company documents. Somewhere in between we had a son and completed our family by adding a boisterous beagle. That was my life in Canberra. It was good.
After visiting Cairns a few times for our family holidays, we fell in love with the city, the reef and the rain forest, and in 2015, accompanied by my small family, beagle included, we moved to Cairns permanently. I paused, re-grouped and took advantage of the opportunity that had opened up in front of me. That’s when my first book was written and illustrated. My book journey had begun, or perhaps resumed. My life is even better.
Recently, two of my short stories have been published in a collection of stories and poems emerge: new writers in the region anthology.
I am a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
I’m a member of the Tropical Writers Inc. management committee, a writers group based in Cairns. I’m also a part of the Cairns Tropical Writers Festival team. I still dabble in financial planning, although writing stories, both short and long, continuing to hone my writing skills and learning about the craft gives me much more pleasure.