The statement ‘we come into the world alone' does not apply to me. I jostled my twin brother out of the womb on a spring morning in Auckland, New Zealand, and followed swiftly behind. It was 1971 and Rod Stewart's Maggie May was number one on the UK and US charts. Twelve years later Men at Work's Down Under was number one and my New Zealand passport was already half-full with Aussie stamps. In those first 12 years of my life we had travelled between NZ and Australia three times and had spent more than two years in total lapping up the warmer temperatures that Australia had to offer. To save on ink, my folks relocated us from our home town of windy Wellington to Brisbane permanently.

I was still an adolescent when I began to write; articles for the local newspaper, poems, short stories and letters to the editor. At age 18, I got the chance to pen my byline when I was offered a journalism cadetship at the Gold Coast Bulletin. My career as a professional writer had begun.

That was 20 years ago, and my resume is testament to my dedication to my career. It tells of those four years I spent learning the craft at the Gold Coast Bulletin, my four years as news and features writer and section editor at The Daily Telegraph and my three years as sub-editor, chief-of-staff and writer at Australian Associated Press. It also documents the past seven years in which I have been writing for mainstream and trade magazines and newspapers as a freelance journalist.

I have recently broadened my field of expertise to include proofreading children's books, teaching feature writing courses and facilitating author events. I am one of the presenters of the Feature Writing for Magazines and Newspapers course at the Sydney Writers' Centre. I have also facilitated numerous 'in conversation' author talks, including an event at the 2009 Sydney Writers' Festival.

When I'm not working I'm spend time with my husband and two small boys, exercising in the outdoors and travelling throughout Australia and the world. Boeings and jets have taken me to many parts of the world, including South-East Asia, the US, Europe and New Zealand. I have also lived in the UK and Canada. However, the highlight of all my travels came in 2008 when my family and I took a 16,000km, three-month road trip through five Australian states.

Now in 2010, Rod Stewart still tours - no doubt belting out Maggie May in his husky tones - and Men at Work performed Down Under at the Australia Unites Victorian Bushfire Appeal Telethon last February. As for me, I continue to notch up customs stamps, albeit electronically these days, and still marvel at the beauty and power of the written word.