I started life as a reluctant reader and a non-writer. An accidentalcollision with a university course on American literature sparked an interest in modern writing, especially 20th century American short story. I enjoy the obvious - Hemingway, Fitzgerald, etc. but I have been grabbed by others like Ray Carver, Donald Barthelme, Don Delillo and a straying into the poetry of William Carlos Williams. The life and work of the beat writers, especially Kerouac are also significant. I love the images of urban America. I love the romance behind the stranger in the city street and the cafe's and flats the exist in. I like the disaffected and lonely, especially in the crowded city. To be fair though as a New Zealander I know our images, voice and aspirations better. It's a more rural tradition. Owen Marshall, Janet Frame and Maurice Gee are the best examples of this in my mind. I am married with three children, teaching part-time and freelance editing/proofreading where I can. My friends call me Gilly and I would like to think that writers on Authorden would call me that when they communicated with me.

I have a Masters of Education(dist) from the University of Canterbury.