About me

For a writer who is interested in sailing and the sea, living on an island is the next best thing to living on a boat. I still get up early to look at the dawn sky and try to work out the weather pattern.

More Than a Thousand Dawns tells of sailing round the world on the 2 to 6 watch, morning and evening – far and away the best time in my life.

The second best was my 23 years in the Middle East and I will write about that one day.

I have also written for Cruising Helmsman and Arabian Wildlife magazines, and at one time wrote regularly for the Gulf News tabloid. After ten years editing Gazelle, the newsletter of the Dubai Natural History Group, I am now a proud life member. This all began with the Dubai Writers, developing skills by writing short stories, and once discovered, the joy of writing never goes away.

A bit of background

I was born in rural Queensland, well in from the sea. I became a physio but still look for wild, open places, the deserts, bush and sea.

Better care of our oceans is, I believe, key to the health of our ecosystem. I love the sea, and pick up any free plastic I find, and push for recycling and drastically reducing production of plastics.

I like dancing, blue dresses, blue water, blue heelers and the Portuguese guitar. My mother taught me to love classical music, too. One of my favourite memories is of the bush cattle stopping to listen to ballet suites as they ambled past the homestead to water.

Read about my books on my home page.