I just scrape in as a baby boomer, having been born in Melbourne in 1959.
I have lived in Western Australia since the 1970s; from 1978 until 1991 in the West Kimberley, at Fitzroy Crossing, Derby and Camballin, and since then in Mundaring in the Perth Hills.
My working life has had three main strands:
I am a writer, working across a range of formats – books, stage and screen – and a variety of genres. It is only in the last few years that I have been able to make writing the primary focus of my working life.
Until recently, I have worked for over forty years with Kimberley Indigenous communities and organisations as an employee, adviser and consultant, across a wide range of fields and projects, from resource agency employee, to community schools administrator, to co-ordinator at a native title body corporate.
I have worked as a project developer, writer and creative producer with Indigenous arts entities, most particularly the Fitzroy Crossing based Bunuba Cultural Enterprises to realise a range of stage productions.
As indicated on the relevant tabs, there are a number of my works to which I do not hold the copyright. These are the projects where I have been commissioned by an Indigenous organisation, or collaborated with an Indigenous owner of the story.
Books
I have had nine works published so far: three novels for adults, and one for children; a play script; two that I describe as social history about the Kimberley; and two football biographies. There is no particular rhyme or reason to such a mix; it is about finding the stories that need to be told. Hopefully there are more to come.
Other writings
There is even less of a pattern to the other writing I have done. Over the years I have turned my hand to stage plays, songs and a libretto, short stories, feature journalism and articles. Once again it is about stories that are important, or that somehow strike a chord. The best fun of all is a good collaboration, when the chemistry is right.