I have been writing since they first gave me a pencil. I've been published and won awards across a range of genre including poetry, teacher reference books, student textbooks, short stories, travel articles, academic and newspaper articles and letters, two memoir books and recently a booklet to help parents teach children about money. Professionally I was a teacher who went on to become a university lecturer and a private education consultant. I hold a Doctorate of Mathematics Education and for 20 years was the head writer and facilitator of ANZ's financial literacy programs across Australia and the Pacific. I'm a member of three writing groups and have delivered author talks and writing workshops to various organisations. My feeling is that everyone has a story and writing helps us deal with life's ups and downs - to put us in touch with ourselves. Writing often exposes, quite unexpectedly, those things that are joyful and strong within us, and enables us to see who we really are.