The Australian bush itself is my major influence. It breeds tough people with a dry sense of humour. I spent 40 years on a wheat farm in northern NSW, destroying my health, sanity and bank balance... but the experience got me writing. My most profound literary influences are from the 19th century - Henry Lawson, Banjo Patterson and, most of all, Steele Rudd, creator of Dad and Dave in "on Our Selection".

Bored with going round in circles on a tractor, I experienced a mid-life crisis which saw me studying English Lit, German language, History and Sociology at the University of New England, Armidale, NSW. That led to a satisfying late-life career teaching Communication, English, creative writing, and adult literacy at the Moree Campus of Technical and Further Education (TAFE).