I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and lived there until I was twenty six. The country is the setting for all four of my novels. In my opinion, South Africa is the perfect backdrop for fiction, because its beauty is breathtaking, its people passionate, and the mere mention of the country’s name triggers an emotional response in readers. South Africans pride themselves on the eventfulness of their country. Nobody ever refers to South Africa as that bland place on the southernmost tip of Africa where nothing ever happens.

My first piece of fiction was published in a South African newspaper when I was in the first grade, presumably because the editor found the atrocious spelling amusing. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Communications, with a second major in English Literature, and an Honors degree in Communications, which I obtained cum laude. After college I became a journalist and worked in print and radio.

My husband and I spent a year in England before coming to the United States at the end of 1995. We have done a fair amount of moving around in the United States and the places we have called home include Saint Louis, Missouri, Montgomery, Alabama and now Houston, Texas. 

After a relatively short career writing non-fiction, I got into fiction writing quite by chance. In England I attended a fiction workshop just for fun, and the story I wrote was published by a women’s magazine. Inspired, I wondered if I could attempt a novel. When we moved to the United States I started hanging out in the writing section of bookshops and reading how-to articles on the internet and then trying to put into practice what I’d learned. Years passed before my manuscript was ready to submit to an editor. I am so fortunate to have found a brilliant agent who loved my story and believed all along that she would find a home for my book, which, of course, she did. I still can’t believe that I’m a published author. It’s surreal to see my novel in the same bookshops where I used to gaze at the names of authors like a starstruck teenager. 

As the mother of three young daughters, I write whenever I can find time, usually late at night.  My favorite ways to relax are going for long walks with my family, taking my girls to the playground, having picnics, meeting people from different cultures (and trying their food), visiting botanical gardens and reading. I miss South Africa-my parents and siblings, all the beautiful spots I used to visit, the perfect weather, and my countrymen’s easy humor that mixes the local languages with unique flair-but, after fifteen years in the United States, I still feel as though I’m on an adventure and have much more to discover. 

You will notice that there is always mention of the AIDS pandemic in my novels, specifically the dire situation of children who have lost one or both parents to the disease.  These children desperately need help.  There are many wonderful non-governmental organizations and charities doing their best for these orphans, but the one that I have chosen to support is Cotlands, a South African NGO that runs AIDS orphanages in all the major centers of the country, as well as a pediatric AIDS hospice.  Cotlands has made it easy for people to donate money from anywhere in the world.  If you would like to help, please visit the Cotlands website.  My deepest thanks.