About Me:

As a little girl, before I could even read or write, my mother introduced me to stories through a subscription called “Storieman”. Listening to tapes and following along in the books, I was taken to magical worlds. At school, I was finally taught how to write and I eagerly mashed sentences together to create my own stories. I pinched my father’s old day planners – which he rarely used – and filled it with my own stories. I absorbed books, movies and stories and would act them out during my playtime.

I grew up in a small rural town, which didn’t have book shops and you were reliant on the local library for most of your reading material. The popular genres in the library were mysteries and romances, which was fine but it didn’t keep me engaged. I was introduced to fantasy by my sister, who gave me two Terry Pratchett books, “Weird sisters” and “Lords and Ladies”. I loved his storytelling and wit and was so delighted by the three ladies’ shenanigans, I had to read them a few times. Unfortunately, fantasy was not one of the genres the libraries had.

My mother had her own book collection and she ordered different books from a catalogue, exposing me to different genres, but again fantasy were not best sellers in South Africa and so it didn’t appear in her catalogues. Until we heard about Harry Potter. The second book was released and talk shows raved about the books and how they would be translated to some of our local languages. My mother went out of her way to buy me the first two books and I was hooked like the rest of the world.

In university, I majored in Mathematical statistics and was surrounded by friends who loved fantasy and they introduced me to writers like Robert Jordan, David Eddings, Tad Williams, J.R.R Tolkien and Raymond E. Feist. I read more than I studied, getting lost in the amazing worlds these writers have created. One of my friends even questioned why I wasn’t writing as I would come up with creative ideas and stories of my own.

Me, write? It sounded like a fantasy, but the seed was planted. I took a creative writing course on top of my other studies and the seed sprouted. Slowly, I gained information on how to write a book. But honestly, it still seemed like a mountain, and I had no idea how to climb. Before I could even fathom this road, I was thrown into the 9 to 5 hustle and corporate world and my writing dreams were put on hold. I would write sporadically, but it wasn’t any good.

However, my inner child demanded creativity and so I did a novel writing course, How To Write A Book, with www.writerswrite.co.za and my passion was reborn. I also followed a few youtube authors who have inspired me to keep going. I’ve written two books up to date and am busy editing them, hoping to set them free in the coming months.

Currently, I live in a village on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa with three dogs and four parrots (my own personal dragons, without the fire-breathing part - which is a bonus). If I’m not submerged in work or a creative fantasy world, I’m fiddling in my garden, sipping wine at a vineyard or conquering a hiking trail somewhere – that is, if I won the argument with my “dragons” to leave the house.