I’m Australian. I was born in Sri Lanka, learned to speak English in Zambia and grew up in Brisbane. I went to University to study Astrophysics, graduated in Law and after years of corporate contracts, realized I just wanted to tell stories. Perhaps a legal career is a natural precursor to writing fiction.
Whilst I maintain that I am nowhere near old enough for a mid-life crisis, I did begin turning down legal positions two years ago, so that I could write. Since then, I have completed four independent novels and co-authored two others. My first novel was short listed for the 2008 NSW Genre Fiction Award, and another placed in the 2008 FAW National Literary Awards (Jim Hamilton Award). In 2009 I was long-listed in the QWC Hachette Livre Manuscript Development Program and offered a Varuna Fellowship. It was enough to keep me stubbornly refusing to do anything but write, though the bills were mounting and I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever be gainfully employed again. Then, in a moment which I’ll always remember as one of pure joy, hysterical giddy excitement and overwhelming relief, Pantera Press asked me to become one of their authors. And so here I am.
I live and write on a small farm in the Snowy Mountains of NSW, where I grow French Black Truffles, breed miniature cattle and raise two wild colonial boys. Most of my time is now happily devoted to researching and writing. I like painting, dogs and ginger ice-cream. I could probably still draft you a contract…but you might find it has a plot…and perhaps a twist or two.
