They say, ‘write what you know’. And for Kasey Whitelaw, a marine biologist with a passion for ocean education, there was probably only ever going to be one subject top of mind. In fact, it was during her day job that she identified an opportunity that has seen her now
Plenty of authors have day jobs – in fact it’s more common than not, such is the nature of the business. For Dr. Jo Skinner, she is adamant not to let her medical career stifle her writing. In fact, it has actually become a source of inspiration. “I always say
One new year’s day, Susannah Hardy made a decision that would change the rest of her life. She decided she wanted to earn money from writing. Already working as an actor, Susannah then enrolled in a course at the Australian Writers’ Centre. That set her on a path where she now has dual careers – as an actor, as well as a successful freelance writer, published in Australia’s top magazines and newspapers.
When Sophie Gillies was about eight years old, she was an avid reader, and often imagined telling Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls about life in the late 20th century. Fast forward to well into the 21st century and Sophie studied creative writing at university before finding herself
Mitch Jennings had ambitions to be a novelist, but like so many others, didn’t know how to turn his dreams into reality. In his day job as a sports journalist, he was no stranger to writing, but crafting a crime novel would require a whole new set of skills. The
Camille Booker had never allowed herself to imagine being a ‘real’ author one day – but faced with new motherhood and a demanding teaching job, she started to dream of the possibility. “I’d always loved reading, language, words, poetry,” she says. “Writing was my creative outlet: a way to avoid
Despite being surrounded by books in her day job, Kell Woods knew that if she wanted to be successful in publishing her own fiction, she’d need some guidance. That’s where the Australian Writers’ Centre came in – providing the content and flexibility to learn a range of new skills and
For New South Wales-based picture book author Bec Nanayakkara, the past few years have been quite a whirlwind. A graduate of the Australian Writers’ Centre Writing Picture Books course, Bec found success immediately with her first two books Grow Big, Little Seed and Book Star – published by Hardie Grant
When Shankari Chandran took time out of her career as a lawyer to have her fourth child, she turned her hand to writing in between baby feeds and family demands. This pastime has turned into a new career and Shankari has now released her first novel The Barrier, a futuristic fast-paced thriller that has been compared to the works of Michael Crichton and Matthew Reilly.
Melissa Garside always dreamed of becoming a published author, and her children’s novel, Lexie Moon & The Word Burgling Bungle, is out now with Riveted Press!
Karina May was working in digital marketing when she started dabbling in creative writing just for the fun of it – but she soon found herself hooked on the craft of storytelling. She voraciously attended courses at the Australian Writers’ Centre, including two rounds of Write Your Novel with Pamela Freeman, which gave her the structure to complete her first manuscript. After signing a two-book deal with Pan MacMillan, Karina has now released her novel Duck à l’Orange for Breakfast.
Lesley Gibbes is an internationally published, award winning author of 17 books for children. She writes picture books, poetry and chapter books. Lesley is also the presenter of our online, self-paced course Writing Chapter Books for 6 to 9 year olds here at the Australian Writers’ Centre.
Jess Horn was a busy working parent with no time for hobbies, but she decided she could just squeeze in a few minutes to enter the Furious Fiction competition at the Australian Writers’ Centre. After that, she was hooked. With her childhood love of writing rekindled, Jess enrolled in Creative Writing Stage 1 and then dived into Writing Picture Books.
Dinuka McKenzie was a busy working mum when she decided to start writing as a creative outlet. The more she wrote, the more she loved it, so she decided to complete a few courses at the Australian Writers’ Centre to hone her craft. After finishing her first crime manuscript, she entered it in the Banjo Prize for unpublished fiction – and then came the extraordinary news that she had won!
Allie Reynolds is the author of The Bay and Shiver. She’s also a former professional freestyle snowboarder who spent five winters in the mountains of France, Switzerland, Austria and Canada. Her short fiction has been published in magazines in the UK, Australia, Sweden and South Africa. Allie swapped her snowboard
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