I was born on the Gold Coast - resort heaven in Queensland.  My first, and still probably most significant influence, was my mother who frequently told me stories about fairies, elves, dragons and magicians.  My mother also taught me to never stop learning and to this day I still live, on paper at least, in the fairytale world my mother introduced me to and still keep learning. I have degrees in Ancient History and Comparative Religions and I use a lot of what I've learned at University in my writing.  I'm fascinated by ancient cultures and by the way people think and how that influences the world we see today.  I have a passion for mythology and legends and incorporate reworked versions of many old myths and legends into my books. I was introduced to role-playing games as a teenager - love Dungeons & Dragons - and still play whenever I have time.  It was primarily RPG that led me in the direction of writing fantasy fiction.  I had always wanted to be a writer, in fact I used to want to be the next Agatha Christie, but with fantasy writing I found my true home. I'm a voracious reader, in fact rarely, if ever, seen without a book in my hand - these days usually on my e-reader as I've quite literally run out of room for more print books.  My reading tastes vary widely.  I still love my Agatha Christie novels, as well as writers like James Rollins, Allan Folsom, Stephen King, Jodi Picoult, and Richard North Patterson.  Enjoy more light-hearted writers like Ben Elton, and Douglas Adams.  Favourite fantasy authors [too many to mention] but topping the list Anne McCaffrey, Katharine Kerr, J. K. Rowling and Terry Pratchett.  I'm also a big fan of historical fiction especially from Christian Jacq and Pauline Gedge.  I also still read widely from the classics, true crime stories and non-fiction works. Everything I read influences me to a degree, whether it's a style of writing, a way of expression or character development.  I'm also a bit of a people watcher and tend to create stories around interesting people I meet or see. Outside of reading/writing my passions are my family and friends, my dog and two cats, travel, boxing, yoga and I've set myself the challenge to learn scuba diving and photography. Having my first published novel, Erich's Plea: Book One of the Witchcraft Wars, available for sale has been a dream come true.  Now, of course I have dreams of having multiple novels published and seeing my created world of Kaynos become as well known as the Discworld. [A girl's got to have dreams]