Look and Listen

Biography

Born in the UK, I made the move to Australia many years ago and I live in the bush outside Melbourne, Victoria. When I left science teaching, I went on safari in Africa with my husband and it was such a great experience, I wanted to write about it, so I went to a class to find out how. That was the start of my new career, but I never found a home for that African article.

Inspiration

I always loved reading and writing stories and I promised myself I'd give writing a go when I found some time in my life. I didn't even think about it until my kids had left home and I'd finished work. I have great admiration for writers who have jobs and/or small children. I have no idea how they do it. For continuing inspiration, I rely on my writing group, the Lazy River Writers, a group of women who constantly amaze me with their achievements. 'The Burning' was inspired by my experience during the Ash Wednesday bushfires which swept through three states, took hundreds of homes and killed many people and much livestock. It burned the little village across the hill from us, destroyed the church, houses and shops, and killed eleven firefighters just up the road. The fire burned within a couple of metres of our property, before a wind change ultimately saved us. I was home with my young daughter and her friend, my husband and son were kept out by police barricades, so we saved the horses and dogs and put out the burning embers ourselves. This forms the background to a murder mystery, where just one of many bodies found after the fires strikes the local cop as being suspicious.