No, this picture is not me!

It is our heroine Katie, worried about whether she should accept Sam. Sam is trying to convince her he will be loyal despite his very busy past.

I am a South Australian writer, writing from the driest state in the driest continent in the world (unless you count Antarctica, and that's not fair, there's so much ice there surely it can't count as dry?).  Here we are hot when people in the northern hemisphere are cold.

I have worked and volunteered all my life. Even when we lived in the United States, I volunteered at the schools and Girl Scouts (we call them Girl Guides in Australia) and choir and soccer. Back home in Australia, I do everything from office jobs to lecturing although I started life as a farm girl.

I really like cooking and the whole family likes my pavlovas so I have included a picture of one I decorated as a Christmas tree to make you hungry.

I also love puzzles and computer games, and over the years I have had to be very disciplined and remove them from the computer (i.e. temptation). I loaded up Bubbles just to show you. In the interests of getting anything done today, I have already uninstalled it from my phone. Sudoku is another weakness I have to stay away from, and every morning I do Wordle, for which I have a 100% win rate. If this changes, I will update this website page. Or die in shame, whichever happens first.

From this you may have inferred I love playing with words. I have studied writing up to post-graduate level (no, I do not have a doctorate). I include a picture of one of my over-stuffed bookcases.

I can't help teaching. It always seems terrible to me if people don't know things that I could so easily tell them. I taught about Australia in US elementary schools, and tutored maths to high school children in both countries and lectured on how to write essays in South Australia.

Finally, of course, I love Australia and Australian people. When I lived in the US I was fascinated by our similarities and differences. I hope you enjoy my Aussie Guards series which is set in the beautiful Adelaide Hills of South Australia.