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Hi, a bit about me.
*Masters of Education (International), Monash Uni
I was born in Melbourne, Australia (nee Helen McKenzie) and have always loved drawing, arts and crafts; winning my first drawing competition in grade 6 for designing a sausage sizzle poster. From an early age I have always enjoyed painting, drawing, most art and crafts, the theatre, music and reading. I used to spend hours in my bedroom drawing, and making crafts, particularly Salvador Dali like surrealistic sculptures out of old clocks, and witches out of corn of the cob skins from Mum’s home produced corn patch (the latter creations were a bit smelly, especially after sitting in my dresser drawers for months). Graduating in January 1978 as a Primary teacher, I loved encouraging my primary school students to develop their imagination and creativity through story telling, creative writing, art, music and drama. However, since my teens, I have always felt that there was something else in me trying to get out. A passion. Something that I not only enjoyed but was good at (even if I had to work at it). Consequently, in my search for ‘that niche’ I have tried most things – silver jewelry making, tap dancing, drama, African dancing, and the list goes on…… Thinking I had discovered ‘my niche’, I then spent three years studying drama part time, but little did I know that a poet was soon to be born. As part of a drama assignment I had to write and ‘perform’ a poem, or piece about an animal, as selected by a ‘lucky dip’. My animal was the gorilla and so I penned my first poem, ‘Lulu, the gorgeous gorilla’. By this stage I was about 27 years of age. At 29, and being occupied with a new found romance, I found myself neglecting my drama classes and spending time alone writing ‘heart felt’ poetry while waiting for the phone to ring. Yes, pitiful! I remember one weekend, with some time on my hands, having the urge to write some humorous children’s poems. My cat seemed to be a very attentive audience so I figured they couldn’t have been too bad. Soon after, I sent these poems (in story book format) out to approx six/seven children’s publishers, and although I received rejection slips, I did receive some very positive feedback and decided to keep on writing. In 1989/1990, after moving to Brisbane, I began a correspondence Diploma in Writing course with ‘The Writing School’ (formerly NSW Writing School). I began entering competitions and had some of my ‘heart-felt’ poems published in poetry anthologies. On one working day in 1993, at the age of 37 years and an office manager (got to be more to life than this) I again had the urge to write humorous children’s poetry. Three months later I had ended up with approx. 120 poems. In 1993 I won first prize (Children’s poetry category) in the 1993 OZ waves Award and University of Queensland Press Book Prizes for my humorous poem, ’Magpie Mania’ (under pen name, Jean Ross). My prize was a book. I was so chuffed AND it still takes pride of place in my library. Also as a former canoeist I had my poem, 'Come 'n Try Canoeing published in the Queensland Canoe Federation Inc. Magazine May/June 1993. I began exploring different story ideas and began illustrating again, and joined some writers' newsletters to keep in touch with the latest news and competitions. By this time the writing bug was well underway, and in 2000 I completed the Diploma in Writing Course. (Yes, it took ten years to complete but I was determined to finish it - unfortunately other 'life things' had got in the way). In 2004, at age 47 (Wow, where had the time flown?), and having gone through a number of career changes, I felt that this was the time to begin a new chapter and actively pursue my writing. However, I didn’t want to spend the possibility of months and years of sending manuscripts to publishers and receiving rejection slips in the mail. As I didn’t want to be dependent on a publisher deciding whether my book was marketable or not (when I knew there WAS a market for my style of writing) I self-published my first book, ‘Ten Yellow Bananas’ in March 2006, and followed up with my second book, ‘Santa is in the Chimney’ in September 2006. (Prior to publishing in 2006, there was another 'minor' set back in 2005 when my husband suffered a heart attack at Heathrow Airport, whilst boarding a plane to go to Canada - but that is another story). In March/April 2007 I was awarded a RADF grant (Regional Arts Development Fund) through the Queensland Government/Arts Qld and Logan Council, to undertake professional development in the area of illustrating and writing children’s picture books. Another milestone for me. (* see below) It is now 2009 and my third book, ‘Bubble Gum Trouble And Other Giggle Poems’ published by Little Steps, New Frontier Publishing is OUT NOW. The talented Dee Texidor illustrated the wonderful pictures for these verses. Well, I am still working full time (unfortunately not yet as a full-time writer) and have been teaching at TAFE Queensland since 1995 and currently teach English in language/literacy programs. So for the past 20 years I have pursued my love of humorous poetry and short story writing for children, and am now branching out into other writing genres. I also paint in oils and love glass painting. My lovable husband (who is adamant that I mention that he is Brisbane born) and I have been living in sunny Brisbane since 1989 and live with our beloved pets. The Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) supports the professional development and employment of arts and cultural workers in regional Queensland. RADF is a partnership between State Government,through Arts Queensland, and your local council (in my case, Logan City Council). Logan City Council www.logan.qld.gov.au
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