Tell us something about yourself that not many people know.

I love theatre and have been in several drama groups over the years including a local French theatre where I was the only English-speaking member. It was great for me to keep up my French language skills (I used to teach French) but improvising in a foreign language is really hard! Luckily the group were awesome and so good at giving me confidence to challenge myself with this!

Why did you choose these themes in your book and were you aware of them from the outset?

I chose the theme of climate change as I am passionate about this and want to get conversations started and encourage children so that they feel they can get in on the conversation too. They have the power to make things happen and I believe that if we demonstrate our confidence in them, they can lead the way with making a commitment to a positive future. We can learn so much form our young people and Rain Shaker is a narrative that gives hope as well as making a stand for the inclusion of children in this important conversation.

How difficult was it for you to write this book? Did you face any obstacles?

This concept for this book came easily but the formation of the story took time – it was tricky to decide whether I was going to set the story squarely in Australia or have it as a story between countries as the theme is climate change.

Do you always write in this genre or do you like to break out of the box?

I write in several genres, picture books, poetry, and early readers as well as the YA novel I am working on. It really depends on what I am wanting to write about that drives where the story will sit in terms of genre rather than the need to write to a certain audience.

What are your writing habits or idiosyncrasies?

I love compiling playlists to go with the mood of the narrative I am working on and I like to go and sit outdoors with my laptop to write when I am working on a first draft of a scene.

What’s next for your writing?

I am editing my first YA novel about two girls and their quest to perform live on stage. It is a coming of age story about friendship, families ties and touches on the topic of mental health. I am also working on a picture book environmental series. I have a couple of people in UK and Europe with whom I am preparing some collaborative works and another little picture book in my Verityville series is due out early next year.