Children are quirky, surprising and funny, which is why I like writing about them and also why I like teaching them. Children don't have jobs or mortgages or lots of meetings to attend, so a child character is free to rollerblade through a windy afternoon wearing a raspberry-coloured ballet skirt, get splashed with chocolate sauce from flying donuts, discover a silver-haired kolobockle hiding in a backpack or set up a detective agency to hunt down a bushranger's hidden treasure. I was born in Brisbane in Australia and still live there. As a child I wrote murder mysteries and performed ballets on the beach, dancing all the roles myself. And I really did set up a detective agency with my two best primary school friends. (We quit detecting at the end of Year 4, and now we just meet for dinner.) I went to university where I ate cheesecake, drank coffee and somehow managed to graduate with an Arts degree in Japanese and German. I teach Japanese, but I used to teach dance. I've written four books. I like walking, swimming and thinking about nothing. I have a large extended family but no pets. In my next life I am going to own a raspberry-coloured ballet skirt for real. |
