That 'Other' Mrs Norris...
It's a lot of fun sharing the same name as one of the most famous cats in modern literature. If I had a dollar for all the young people who've said to me: "You've got the same name as that cat from Harry Potter!", I wouldn't have to work. I'd be filthy rich!
But I do work, and I work hard. My primary role is being the mother of two beautiful daughters who challenge me every day to try to be a better person. So I like to look for opportunities to 'pay it forward' and give something to family, friends, or my local community. I truly believe that if you give something to others in your life, it will come back to you tenfold.
My secondary role involves running a creative services business incorporating my work as a writer and a civil celebrant. This website features my work as a writer, and my sister-site promotes my work as a civil celebrant.
Like most writers out there, I really love to write. This passion started when I was very small, when I developed a love of books, and I remember writing my first proper full stories when I was about nine years old. So I've been writing for almost four decades now and my biggest regret is those early masterpieces no longer exist to look back upon. My own girls write now and where possible, I'm keeping copies on my computer so four decades from now they can look back on their early writing efforts with pride.
Over the years, I have explored many genres within writing, which was a great apprenticeship because it not only taught me a lot about writing but it also drew me to the area of writing that I love most - children's literature. Children don't tend to look critically at things like adults do, and fully appreciate what the imagination brings to life in words. Once children enter their teens, they start to think more critically and some may even start to imagine less, leaving the fanciful tales from their childhood behind as they mature.
My greatest wish ever was to see my name on the cover of a book, and in 2005 this happened with the publication of two of my novels for children - "The Balloonatic!" and "Finders Keepers" - which are aimed at my favourite 8-12 year old age group. I have since had further books published (see the My Books Page).
I'm currently tackling the biggest project of my career - writing a novel aimed at young adults. It fits within the 'futuristic dystopian' genre that's currently very popular but which agents and publishers reckon is 'on the wane'. I don't care. I'm writing the story I want to read. Also, I'm having a lot of fun imagining what the world could be like in the future at the time when my novel is set, and building my fictional, futuristic world around my research and what I want to be in it.
I'm also revelling in my new life in a remote part of north-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia. The township of Nhulunbuy is a significant change from my hometown of Logan City, Queensland, but every day I am learning more and more about the wonderful people and culture of this land. Yolngu Matha ngarra marrngithirr bulna! (I am learning Yolngu Matha slowly!)
So that's me and that's what I do. If my stories can take young people out of the realm of ordinary, everyday life and into the incredible realms of the imagination, even but for a small time, then I will have achieved my goal.
Shazz
But I do work, and I work hard. My primary role is being the mother of two beautiful daughters who challenge me every day to try to be a better person. So I like to look for opportunities to 'pay it forward' and give something to family, friends, or my local community. I truly believe that if you give something to others in your life, it will come back to you tenfold.
My secondary role involves running a creative services business incorporating my work as a writer and a civil celebrant. This website features my work as a writer, and my sister-site promotes my work as a civil celebrant.
Like most writers out there, I really love to write. This passion started when I was very small, when I developed a love of books, and I remember writing my first proper full stories when I was about nine years old. So I've been writing for almost four decades now and my biggest regret is those early masterpieces no longer exist to look back upon. My own girls write now and where possible, I'm keeping copies on my computer so four decades from now they can look back on their early writing efforts with pride.
Over the years, I have explored many genres within writing, which was a great apprenticeship because it not only taught me a lot about writing but it also drew me to the area of writing that I love most - children's literature. Children don't tend to look critically at things like adults do, and fully appreciate what the imagination brings to life in words. Once children enter their teens, they start to think more critically and some may even start to imagine less, leaving the fanciful tales from their childhood behind as they mature.
My greatest wish ever was to see my name on the cover of a book, and in 2005 this happened with the publication of two of my novels for children - "The Balloonatic!" and "Finders Keepers" - which are aimed at my favourite 8-12 year old age group. I have since had further books published (see the My Books Page).
I'm currently tackling the biggest project of my career - writing a novel aimed at young adults. It fits within the 'futuristic dystopian' genre that's currently very popular but which agents and publishers reckon is 'on the wane'. I don't care. I'm writing the story I want to read. Also, I'm having a lot of fun imagining what the world could be like in the future at the time when my novel is set, and building my fictional, futuristic world around my research and what I want to be in it.
I'm also revelling in my new life in a remote part of north-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia. The township of Nhulunbuy is a significant change from my hometown of Logan City, Queensland, but every day I am learning more and more about the wonderful people and culture of this land. Yolngu Matha ngarra marrngithirr bulna! (I am learning Yolngu Matha slowly!)
So that's me and that's what I do. If my stories can take young people out of the realm of ordinary, everyday life and into the incredible realms of the imagination, even but for a small time, then I will have achieved my goal.
Shazz
