About Sally

I am a writer, speaker, publisher, mother, partner. I know quite a lot about creating great books; I’ve been doing it for twenty-something years in Sydney, London and now Brisbane.

As an author, I’ve got my name on the front of four books:

Sophie’s Journey

Positive

The World According to Kids

Parenting with Soul

I’ve also been co-writer, ghostwriter and ‘book doctor’ on a few other books, including Chris O’Brien’s Never Say Die (shortlisted for ABIA Biography of the Year in 2009), A Letter to Sophie with Ron Delezio and Carolyn Martin, Someone Else’s Child (A Surrogate’s Story) by Sue Phillips, and a new book with Antonia Kidman which will hit bookstores in 2012

I’m the former non-fiction publisher for HarperCollinsPublishers Australia and editorial director of Amber Books in the UK. As a publisher, I must have worked on a few hundred books over the years. In non-fiction you quickly learn how to turn your hand to most subjects, so I’ve tackled all sorts of things: from origami and orchids to surfing and pregnancy. I’ve had the pleasure of working with some remarkable authors: cookbook queen Donna Hay, wine writer James Halliday, real estate guru John McGrath and former NSW premier Bob Carr.

These days I’m mostly a writer, but I also run workshops and speak at universities, schools, libraries, writers’ festivals – anywhere they’ll hand me a microphone, really. I talk about writing, getting published, and the themes in my books: family, parenting, facing life’s challenges, and living with soul.

When I was at university trying to work out what I should do in my life, I studied radio production and journalism. Perhaps because of that grounding and through writing books such as Sophie’s Journey, I’m passionate about words flowing in a natural way. I want the reader to feel that they can hear the words in their head.

In my ‘other life’ outside the world of books, I’m a mother – two remarkably beautiful and funny daughters aged 6 and 8. I live in gorgeous Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I go to the gym or go for a run most mornings to keep my sanity intact. It works sometimes.