… grew up in Papua New Guinea making mud pies, dodging pigs, singing, exploring and devouring every book she found

…returned to Australia in what felt like a fifty-year leap in time, to discover reverse culture-shock, homesickness, survival skills in the jungle of school, and the world of public libraries

…wrote copious letters to friends overseas, in other cities, and in her own classes at school (in code, so the teachers couldn’t read them)

… wrote her first practice novel in four months and became hopelessly addicted to story-writing

…has written five novels for children and young adults and is currently writing a middle-grade parkour novel set in an ancient city