My second book was "Princess Tamsin".
Acting in a play called "Carey". For once I wasn't playing the maid.
My first book was "The Drop Kick".
Holly
Here I am aged four, with my big sister and little brother.
Me as a teacher, dancing with the children.
I was born in Adelaide. When I was four, my family moved to Burra, a small town in the mid north of South Australia.
As a young child I was considered weird because I spent a lot of time wandering around the schoolyard on my own. No one knew I spent that time inventing stories in my head.
Later I became a teacher. For me, the best part of teaching was reading stories to my class. I enjoyed the stories as much as the children did.
My first published novel, “The Drop Kick”, is about a boy who – like me – is completely hopeless at sport. My second novel, “Princess Tamsin”, is about a girl who – again like me – loves her dog and hates cruelty to animals.
Most of my books are written in the first person. I like to get inside my lead character’s head. I write middle grade fiction, possibly because I am still eleven years old at heart.
And, remember that little girl who invented stories in her head? I still do that, but now I write them down as well.
My brother and I used to write our own newspaper, “The Daily Wickes”. It was written in pencil (no computers in those days). We sold the paper to our mother for two shillings (20 cents). She always laughed in all the right places.
I was completely hopeless at sport. I came last in all the races and dropped more balls than I caught. No one wanted me in their team.
At Wattle Park Teachers’ College, my English lecturer was Colin Thiele, author of “Storm Boy” and many other books. He inspired me to write.
I was an enthusiastic amateur actor. I always auditioned for the leading lady parts, but I usually ended up playing the maid.
I am a football fanatic. I grew up supporting West Adelaide in the SA league. When the Adelaide Crows came into the AFL, I became a passionate Crows fan. I go to all their home games.
I live with a delinquent golden retriever called Holly. Holly likes walks on the beach, barking at the neighbours and stealing food.
I am not into gardening, but three years ago I moved into a new home with beautiful rose bushes in the back yard. So far I have managed not to kill them.
