I’m a fantasy author living in Brisbane, Australia. I wrote Shadow Breaker, my first novel, because of my daughter’s fourth grade English teacher, who gave her class an assignment: write a 1–2-page fantasy story. How fun, I thought when my daughter told me about it—and I was whisked back to middle school, where I’d been a member of the school’s story club. I’d been wanting to read a good retelling of Robin Hood, but hadn’t been able to find one—so why not hark back to those story club days, and write it myself?
It took me four and a half years to finish Shadow Breaker, and I was thrilled when I finally did, but I knew this was just the beginning; I had more books in me, more stories waiting to be told. Of course, I was dismayed at the prospect of embarking on another project of similar duration—but then, miracle of miracles, a second idea came to me, and this time the book just flew from my fingers, and I finished it in six months (while also working full-time). Called Jack of Neath, it is my second novel, and it is a mash-up of two fairy tales: Jack and the Beanstalk and The Twelve Dancing Princesses.
Now I have almost completed my third book, a middle-grade story about a time-travelling wizard who lives in a lawnmower. I had started a book about a mermaid, because I love mermaids (and all sea-lore), but it wasn’t going anywhere, so I went outside and started weeding in the yard. I needed to take a break and focus on another project, but what? I found myself wishing—not for the first time—that I had the means to go on some extravagant tour of the castles of Europe, and visit breathtaking chateaus and gloomy dungeons (and oubliettes!), and glean every iota of inspiration that I could from the real thing, instead of a picture in a book. If I could stand at the entrance of Hohenzollern Castle and listen to some local guide tell me information that I couldn’t find anywhere else—if I could touch and smell and see it—well! Surely the ideas would be pouring out then! But I was not in the Black Forest, I was sitting in a modest patch of woodchips in a suburb of Brisbane (which is a lovely city, just not exactly medieval).
Then I remembered something I’d read in The Language of the Night by Ursula K. Le Guin, how Emily and Charlotte Bronte wrote two great novels with little more experience than life “in a small, dreary English village, a couple of bad years at a girls’ school, another year or two in Brussels, which is surely the dullest city in all Europe, and a lot of housework.” Le Guin’s point was that, when it comes to fantasy, you can create a story out of anything—even if it seems prosaic—if you use your imagination to fill in the gaps. Well, I thought, weeding is just about as prosaic as it gets; surely I can follow the Brontes’ example, and come up with a story related to gardening! And of course it had to involve a wizard; so The Weed Wizard was born.
None of my books have yet been published, but I am doing my best to get the attention of publishers and agents, and I won’t give up until I’ve succeeded! I’ve also written many short stories, and lots of poetry. Watch this space!
Update, 21 June 2024
I am now a published author!! My short story Welcome to the Fantasy Fair has been accepted by The Pink Hydra magazine, and is featured in the August 2024 issue, available here.
Hurrah!!
Update, 21 October 2024
My short story The Witch-light has been accepted by Of Metal and Magic Publishing, and will be published online in 2025!! Check it out here.
And also check out the cool artwork on the OMAM landing page!
