I came from a family of avid readers. I have many memories of my mother reluctantly shoving a book she had been reading, under the lounge cushion for picking up later when chores were completed. My father, a professional writer who is passionate about the English language, has always preferred books to TV, and has the largest collection of books of anyone I know. Books were such an intrinsic part of our family, that it was hard for me to imagine that both of my parents grew up without them, or that there were people out there who just didn't like to read.

Although I wrote as a hobby from childhood all the way through high school, it never really occurred to me that I might actually be any good at it until a very supportive English teacher said to me one day, "You really must become a writer." And it changed the direction of my life.

Just those few words made me think I might be able to make a career out of writing. By the time I got to University, that simple sentence, that tiny seed planted, had bloomed into a huge determination to give it a go. So I did a BA English Literature, and a Diploma of Journalism. I've been writing and editing professionally ever since.

Although a journalist and editor for over ten years, my first and greatest love will always be writing for the fantasy genre. Something captured me the first time I scratched out a fantasy novel in that spiral-bound notebook at eight years old. It has me still.