I was born in 1969 in Wellington, New Zealand. When I was one my parents upped sticks and moved to a religious community in India. I loved the thunder storms and learning to read in the little school run by nuns. After a stint in a second community in England we returned to Wellington. I quickly dumped my broad English accent and discovered my essential Kiwi-ness.

My folks hopped off again to the UK in the late 80s. I went along too and met my partner Patrick while studying at the University of York. It took me a while to get around to writing; I sold evening clothes, nannied, and taught secondary school English in north London.

Fortunately Patrick was happy to be exported to New Zealand and we came back in 1997. Stuttering attempts to write led me to the MA in Creative Writing at Victoria University, and later I began what turned into Acts of Love. Our son arrived nine months into the novel's gestation and is now four. He's almost as excited as me about publication, and picks out the books on our bookshelf that bear 'VUP' (Victoria University Press) on their spines.

These days my paid work is teaching the short fiction courses at Victoria University's International Institute of Modern Letters and the Centre for Continuing Education. I do some editing and I'm also a Playcentre mum, currently responsible for the worm farm and the play-kitchen / dolls area. Hanging out in the sandpit on a sunny day is an excellent way to relax, except when mediating shovel disputes.

My short fiction has appeared in Metro, Sport, Turbine 2001, Turbine 2003, and in the HarperCollins anthology Creative Juices. An extract from an earlier draft of Acts of Love appeared in Turbine 2006.