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Biography ............................ ............................ ............................ ............................ ............................ ............................ ............................ ............................
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Biography
I was born in
Auckland, New Zealand where the summers are hot and the winters are warm.
My mother is a native New Zealander and my father is a native Highlander.
When I was eight, we began moving around the world and finally settled in my father’s birth place in the Scottish Highlands,
where the summers are cool and the winters even cooler.
Caithness, in the Highlands of Scotland, is where my home and heart is. It's a little bit remote and can be a bit wet and cold at times - but the warmth of the people makes up for it and is what first attracted me to Caithness when I was only nine. Having just arrived on our first holiday there, I went exploring with my brother and sister and after a very short time, we seemed to have made friends with most of the neighbourhood's children and their dogs. The warmth of so many 'strangers' was such an amazing feeling and one that I'll never forget. But there was nothing strange about them at all. They were fantastic. It's the only time I remember being upset about leaving a place when our holidays came to an end. The people, combined with the
breathtaking scenery and coastline, are what make Caithness such a beautiful
place to visit and live. Many arrive for a few days or weeks and never
want to leave, particularly in the summer. And like me, some don't.
For those whose first visit happens to coincide with one of our very wet, wintry
spells - where the wind is so cold it rips the fine layers of skin from your
face - it can sometimes be hard to convince them of Caithness's beauty.
But those days don't happen too often. And when they do, there's always a
warm pub or home ready to welcome you with warm smiles and fond memories to take
away with you. I love expressing myself using the written word and have wanted to write books since childhood, but there was always one excuse or another. There was never any time. But I eventually did find the time and began to study the do's and don'ts of writing and becoming an Author. I set myself a 5-year goal to be a published Author by the time I was 40. I
began my novel writing about a haggis. Well, come one - I live in
Scotland! I was introduced to the McHaggises in the Spring of
2003. The shrill ringing of the telephone broke my peaceful
surroundings as I was unwinding from a hard day at the office. It
was my mother-in-law, Carna. Richard & Judy were running a
competition for a children's short story and I should enter. I had
no idea what to write about. She suggested I talk to my husband
about the McHaggis family that he used to draw pictures of when he was a
young boy (or "wee loon" as we would say in the Highlands).
So there it began. I first met Toby McHaggis. But Toby
was too much of an introvert and he got fed up with my invasive
questions. After having received a few rejections from publishers
and agents, Toby passed me onto a haggis called Brodie McHaggis - a
much more exciting and fun character. And from thereon, I formed a
great friendship with Brodie and he allowed me to write about his first
adventure - which was much more than a short story so it didn't quite
find its way to Richard & Judy's competition. As my 40th birthday was rapidly approaching, I decided to set up my own publishing company to market my Brodie McHaggis books. My first book was published in 2005 and my second book in 2007. The
Brodie McHaggis books are light-hearted and suitable for listing under
the titles “Children”, “Humour”, “Family” and “Scottish
Tales”. They are
Scottish, and will be appealing to just about anyone with a need
for new adventures, characters and weird creatures ... and just plain
magic. I
have a real passion for the Scottish Highlands and when the story began
to formulate, I had to make sure that I included some of the
Highland’s best-loved icons, namely Nessie, Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle
and, or course, lucky white heather, along with a host of Scottish
Faeries, goblins and other strange creatures.
Scotland has a great following around the world and I wanted to
prove that haggises, and Nessie, really do exist.
But you have to open your mind to be able to enter the other
world that exists around us. A
world that, generally, only children and animals can see because we’re
too busy to notice. Have
you ever wondered what your cat is really staring at when there looks to
be nothing …? But, I do
advise caution because once this world has been entered, there is no
telling what will happen and there is no going back. At the moment, writing and publishing is a part-time venture as I continue to work full-time. My dream is to devote the rest of my life to writing. Many of us go through life doing jobs as a source of income rather than as an enjoyment, and we spend our days dreaming of what we would really like to do. Most of us say that we will make the time for it when we retire. I don't want to do that. I want to live the rest of my life living out the dream. I'm totally enjoying the new challenges that the writing and publishing world is throwing at me - albeit a tough, world. There are highs and lows, but there have to be - that's life. My dream has only just begun and I have to say that I’m having a ball. |
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