As any author will tell you we are frequently asked the question 'when did you decide to become a writer?' Truthfully it's a question I find incredibly difficult to answer because I honestly can't think of any particular moment in time when I made a decision to be a writer. From the moment I could hold a pen I was a writer. I quite genuinely feel as though I was simply born this way. For me writing is not a decision but a calling.
I was, I must say, given an excellent tutor or perhaps mentor is a better word - my mother. As a very small child my mother would make up incredible, wonderful, fantastical stories about all the elves, dragons, fairies and talking flowers that lived in our back garden. Thanks to her I grew up in a world where elves flew on the backs of butterflies and fairies played amongst the flowers. It was an enchantingly wonderful way to grow up and I have enormous and eternal gratitude to her for giving me that world.
I was born and grew up in Australia. On Sth East QLD's beautiful Gold Coast to be exact. It was a kind of paradise for a child with the beautiful beaches and bushland all so close together. It gave me a great love of nature and the beauty of the natural world. Although I have travelled to many other places, both in Australia and overseas the Gold Coast will always hold a special place in my heart.
I was also born with a near insatiable sense of curiosity. My favourite word as a child, so I've been told, was 'why'. Even as a youngster I always had to know why or how and that curiosity has stayed with me all of my life. Despite having a rather awful introduction to formal education, having been bullied rather badly in my early years, I still have a passionate desire to learn. This has led me to complete several university degrees and doubtless I will go back to complete more - it's just a part of who I am.
My great educational loves include Egyptology, in fact all of Ancient and Modern History, Politics, Sociology, Archaeology, the list just goes on. However I also tend to have a low boredom threshold. I can be passionately interested in a subject for a period of time then completely lose interest and go off to follow something else. A lot of my studies and passions have found their way into my writing which is probably why I find myself so drawn to writing fantasy. I love to use the old myths and legends and rework them into my fantasy world of Kaynos.
Kaynos is my created world where all my fantasy writing takes place and it is a world as real to me as our own. I love to go there and play - that's my description of my fantasy writing anyway, as a playful adventure. I am, however, also interested in other genres and have a myriad of ideas that I will eventually fulfil of other novels to write. I have already begun work on a series of children's books and have rough outlines of a couple of crime novels and some paranormal novels I intend to write.
There's not much more I can tell you about me. I come from a close, loving and supportive family. I adore animals - except birds, I have a bit of a fear of birds for some reason but I guess we all have our own little quirks. I love to read, fiction and non-fiction. I enjoy watching documentaries and adore Agatha Christie movies [and books of course]. I love to travel, meet new people and have adventures but I also love quiet time on my own to just sit and think. I'm a bit of a rebel, a pacifist, tend to think a bit outside the box but at heart I try to simply be a decent human being. And that's me.
Thanks for listening [or I should say reading of course] :)
Tracey