I was raised in Pingaring. My Dad and Mum were contractors in town who did carting grain, spreading fertiliser and spraying for the farmers.
The majority of my childhood weekends were spent on my Uncle and Aunty’s farm ‘Gumlea’ with my two cousins Tammy and Sandy, and my younger brother Chad.
Most of that time was spend riding motorbikes, driving around in our old Datsun car, or watching old movies or skits we’d done.
We attended the Pingaring Primary School which closed its doors a few years later because of small numbers. I went off to Narrogin High School where I boarded at the Narrogin Residential College. I left school after year eleven, itching to start work and begin my life.
I was a third generation speedway driver, racing cars from the age of 16 right up until I was pregnant with my first child. I didn’t move too far away from my parents, as my Dad was a mechanic and also raced speedway.
After doing odd jobs, rouseabouting, tractor driving and working on the CBH bins, where I met my husband-to-be, I went to Alexander College for a secretarial course. (Luckily they taught me how to type really fast, which comes in handy when typing up long stories)
I got a job at the Shire of Lake Grace as a secretary for three years and then changed to a Teachers Aide before getting married to my husband Darryl and having my two children Mackenzie, six, and Blake, four.
It was while running the local shop in Pingaring in 2006 with my Mum that I began writing down a story that was roaming around in my head. Lo and behold, this was the start of my writing career.
*Photo by Lisa Thompson
