About Me

Studies and Work

I completed a double degree in Arts/Science with a major in Chemistry and Honours in Indonesian. I then went to work at Museum Victoria. Melbourne Museum was a very nice place to work because I could visit Phar Lap at lunch times.

I’ve worked as a researcher for television quiz shows, verifying the questions are correct. Unfortunately I’m still terrible at trivia nights.

I now work as a librarian, which seems right. Hopefully I’ll get to drive the mobile library one day.

Comedy

I started doing stand-up comedy when I entered Triple J’s Raw Comedy Competition and won the Victorian final. In 2006 I received a Brian Macarthy Memorial Award (Moosehead) for my show, Kathy Smith Goes to Maths Camp.

Writing

In 2006 I moved to Washington DC to be with my partner who moved there for work. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a job so I had a lot of spare time. DC has a lot of interesting museums and galleries and I visited them all, literally. After I spent an afternoon in a museum dedicated to revolutionary musketry I knew I needed to find something else to do. I’d always wanted to write a young adult novel, so I did. Loving Richard Feynman was published by University of Queensland Press (UQP) in August 2009.

My first picture book, Granbad, illustrated by Peter Baldwin, was published by UQP in 2023. t’s about a family who want to save greater gliders and a grandfather who breaks the rules to do the right thing

My latest middle-grade book Music Camp (UQP) was released in in June 2025. It’s about two girls who go on Music Camp with a lot gumption and quite a few hopes and dreams. But it won’t stop raining.

Aussie STEM Stars

I wrote a biography on clinical scientist Creswell Eastman. This book is part of Wild Dingo’s Aussie STEM Stars series, the inspiring life-stories of some of Australia’s world-leading scientists and inventors.

As a boy, Creswell Eastman loved planes and was fascinated by how things work. He went on to become a doctor, researcher and a pilot, travelling to remote parts of the world and almost dying on a Tibetan mountain. His work on iodine deficiency has improved the lives of millions of people. Cres sadly passed away in 2025.

Adults

My first adult book What Rhymes with Murder? will be published with Simon & Schuster in 2026. It’s about a woman on maternity leave who starts investigating a murder. I had the idea when I had small babies and found myself wandering around the suburb a bit bored and lonely. This seemed like an interesting scenario for an amateur detective so I started writing a cosy mystery instead of killing someone.