"Creativity takes courage"

Henri Matisse

Early Lessons

"I thought I was being clever by incorporating as many adjectives as possible in every sentance"

Unlike most authors, becoming an author was not a childhood dream for me. I wanted to be an astronomer, a primary school teacher, or an actress....and it's safe to say neither of those dreams became a reality. In fact, English was probably my weakest subject at school.

Although, it was my Year 12 English teacher Mrs Kakos who had the most lasting impression on me. Mrs Kakos was short, serious, and strict. Her 'Don't mess with me' look was perhaps the scariest look of the entire teaching faculty. Every piece of work I submitted had more red lines through it than not with burning scribbles "Too verbose" "Too wordy" and "Get to point!" The sea of red = too much waffling. I thought I was being clever by incorporating as many adjectives as possible in every sentence.

Over the course of the year, Mrs. Kakos taught me how to tighten up my language and find the true essence of the story. I had many a-ha moments in her class and couldn't believe it took 12 years of schooling to learn the true power of the written word. By the end of the year, she became one of my favourite teachers.

I didn't know it then, but it was a very early lesson to getting straight to the point and ensuring every word was considered and absolutely needed.

"Creativity takes courage" Henri Matisse

The skills I learned from Mrs Kakos became critical in my career in account management and partnerships to craft sales pitches and the perfectly worded professional email. Whilst I have learned so much within my career, what I know is true for me, is I am a creative being. Being creative is where my passion truly lives.

I love exploring creativity through as many mediums as possible including:- water-colouring courses, knitting with friends, brushstroke lettering courses, African dance classes, fashion business courses, pottery classes, pasta-making classes, and participating in a public choir. Anything where I can learn to use my hands, body or mind - I am in!

It all started with our nightly ritual

"A picture book symbolises love, art, creativity, imagination and humour all in one neat package"

We started reading picture books to my firstborn when he was a baby and it very quickly became our nightly ritual. A ritual I still treasure - that quiet one-on-one connection between parent and child. I realised very early on how much my son memorised every story and studied the pictures like a scientist studies microbes. He would devour everything from the classics (#Gruffalo, The Tiger who came to Tea, and #DrSeuss) to the modern stories of #Philipbunting, #davinabell, #peterbrown and #oliverjeffers. As we read together, I loved what a picture book symbolised. It symbolised love, art, creativity, imagination, and humour all in one neat package. And like art, #picturebooks would inspire me to think about having a go at writing my own stories.

It wasn't until I was on maternity leave with my second child that I was brave enough to think about writing stories of my own. And so the journey began...