​My Journey

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I was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. After completing my military service, I began teaching Secondary Afrikaans at a private school before moving to a government secondary school, where I taught English and wrote and produced my first three stage plays.

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In 1996, I moved to England, where I continued teaching while pursuing my ambition to become a published writer. During my years as a primary school teacher, I wrote The Pebble Champion. Finding a publisher took thirteen years, but the experience reinforced a lesson that has remained with me throughout my career: worthwhile stories are worth waiting for.

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Life on the Isle of Wight inspired a new chapter in my writing. Alongside my novels and plays, I began writing poetry, eventually publishing my first collection, Advancing Backwards, featuring poems that had already appeared in literary magazines, journals, anthologies and websites around the world.

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After leaving the classroom to become a teacher trainer, public speaker and presenter of study-skills workshops, I devoted more of my creative energy to writing, poetry and film. My work expanded to include poetry collections, stage plays, screenplays and poetry films, many of which have since received international awards and recognition.

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In 2012, I moved to Shanghai, China, where I returned to international education. Alongside my teaching career, I wrote my second poetry collection, Window Spit, the award-winning stage play Red-Handed, its screenplay adaptation One of Us, and later adapted The Pebble Champion into the feature screenplay that continues to enjoy success on the international festival circuit.

 

During this time I also created Contented Being, an educational resource company supporting teachers and students around the world.

www.contentedbeing.com

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​​Today, I divide my time between education and writing. Whether working on novels, screenplays, poetry or theatre, I remain fascinated by stories that explore the emotional journeys of ordinary people and the quiet courage required to overcome life's greatest challenges.

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I currently live in Shanghai with my partner and a rather extraordinary family of rescue cats, whose occasional demands for attention provide regular interruptions to the writing process.

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As one creative project reaches its conclusion, another inevitably begins. I look forward to seeing where the next story leads.