My debut novel, descended, is my way of exploring so many of the little 'what ifs' that plagued my youth. It is a love story, it is infused with fantasy, but it also toys with some of the bigger themes I've always wondered about, such as fate versus free will, life after death, soul mate love, the complexity of mental health, and life purpose. The world of descended is a world of hope and true love and sense, of healing the deepest of hurts. It is a world where everything happens for a reason, where every soul matters, where we return to those we love over and over again. Because that is a world that comforts me, that keeps me sane. Life is messy and complicated and hard and oh-so-heartbreaking at times, but I have found there is always rhyme and reason to it if we search hard enough. Often the worst things to happen to us happen because they're meant to change us infinitely.

 

When I wasn’t busy sacrificing my soul to fit in at school, I was wondering and worrying about the world and my true place in it—it all seemed so big and mysterious, and endless. I was always overwhelmed by a nagging feeling there was so much more to the universe than what I was taught at school and at home. But because back then I didn’t know who I was, my need to be popular, to not be weird or different, limited my exploration. 

 

The nineties is when descended is set. As a child of this era, I feel very well versed in documenting a period of my life I look back on with such fondness, in sharing the misadventures of my misspent youth. This was a time during which I tried on an array of different masks, trying to find one that fit. I finished school, went to university, got a Bachelor's degree, and started an office job whilst studying for my Masters in Journalism. 

 

But then I got sick. Really sick—one of those mystery autoimmune diseases that brought my life to a grinding halt. I had to give up work right when I was about to put my hard-earned Masters to use. I was bedridden most of the time. My social life fell apart. The doctors told me there was no cure for what I had, that I'd never return to work, get married or have children, and that my life wouldn't likely be a long one. I was dumbfounded. I'd spent my childhood dreaming of an epic life of romance and excitement and achievement, so the future they outlined was completely unacceptable to me. How was this the way my story ended? I got sad. Then I got angry. Then I set out to prove them all wrong. And I did so, by reigniting that spark of curiosity I had in my childhood, that curiosity about the world and how much more there was to it. 

 

I began searching outside the allopathic box, which led me down a rabbit hole of self-discovery, a rabbit hole that helped me to heal myself in ways that were considered alternative and 'woo-woo', but I can tell you they damned well worked! When I went back to the doctors who had condemned me to a life of nothing, they were stunned that I was cured of an incurable disease. Inspired by the wonderfully caring practitioners who had helped me get well, I went back to uni, first studying Kinesiology and Nutrition, then Psychotherapy. I worked under some amazingly talented mentors, and then opened my own practice, helping people to heal the same way I had been helped to heal. 

 

Everything I sought and discovered and fought for during my illness, I've woven into the four-book series that is descended, in the hope that others too might start to hope and wonder and question and change. And heal.

 

My hometown of Manly, in Sydney, Australia is where descended largely takes place. It's magic, living here by the beach with my husband, our gorgeously cliche cavoodle (the cavalier poodle cross breed which almost outnumbers the seagulls here on the northern beaches), and our four beautiful boys, the kids I was told I'd never be able to have. I'm a typical Aussie girl, I love the beach and you can find me ocean-swimming, practicing yoga, burning copious amounts of sage and incense, shopping at farmers' markets and experimenting in the kitchen with the resulting produce, and reading multiple books at once of all different genres (at any one time I have a car book, a bath book, and a bed book on the go). 

 

I believe travel is an imperative part of learning and growing, and I am the self-declared queen of holidays, travelling Australia and the world, always with my own personal little circus in tow. I love my life, but paradoxically I also love escapism—not only the physical escape of travel, but also escaping into my imagination via reading and writing. I cannot tell you how much I adore disappearing into different worlds. I fully believe that a good book is one in which you lose yourself, but a truly great book is one in which you are found.