I began writing short stories  by narrating incidents from my life. One of these stories, The Coffin, won first prize in the Glen Eira Literary Awards in 2006. It is now incorporated into my soon-to-be-completed memoir Electric Gypsy.

I went on to win more awards. Mastering History was short-listed for the Hal Porter Short Story Competition in 2007. A good man and an honest woman came second in the Alan Marshall Award, judged by Cate Kennedy, in 2008.

In 2010 my story The Devil’s Music came second in The Age short story award and was published in that newspaper. It is now part of the anthology of Melbourne stories, Melbourne Subjective.

My storytelling began when I was studying for a Postgraduate Diploma in Creative Writing at Melbourne University in 2006. At that time I had been a journalist for twenty years and took the postgraduate course to switch paths from journalist to author. My short stories eventually moved away from the autobiographical into fiction.

I love writing short stories that can be read aloud, stories that have a distinctive voice, a strong narrative and a rhythm flow, that are entertaining or moving. The most exciting challenge for me as a storyteller is to find a way to connect directly with my audience.

My latest passion is storytelling. In fact, it is a passion I had as a schoolgirl and have rediscovered. I have been a regular storyteller at my local library in Malvern and at other events in Melbourne, where I read other authors’ stories and some of my own work.

Favourite short story writers: Edna O’Brien, Edith Pearlman, Mavis Gallant, Annie Proulx and Tim Winton.