About me

For many years I’ve been following a winding and multi-branched path into the heart of story and its purpose, researching the linkages between modern story, myth, ancient spiritual traditions, nature traditions, psychology and creativity, exploring the structure, purpose and function of story and mulling over the ways in which it guides us through life and teaches us the qualities we need to live well together. This was the subject of my PhD and my novels are infused with it, as are my workshops, talks and mentoring. All this time I’ve been looking for new ways to tell stories, ways that counteract some of the chaos in this world and instead reignite harmony and hope in their audiences.

I’m the author of the novels, Flight, Between Worlds and Gathering Storm, which is being developed as a feature film. My short fiction and non-fiction pieces are widely published in journals, magazines and newspapers in the US, UK and Australia. I also write a fortnightly in-depth article in my Substack Alchemy of Story newsletter, which explores creativity, writing and ways in which we can reimagine ourselves and our world through story. Subscription is free and there’s an archive of useful and entertaining articles you can read.

For the past twenty years or so I’ve worked as a mentor, manuscript assessor, and creative writing teacher, enabling writers to realise the potential of their creative projects. I spent four years as Creative Writing Fellow at Aberystwyth University where I supervised PhD students, and fourteen years teaching on the online MA in Writing at Swinburne University in Melbourne.

Along with my technically based Mechanics of Story writing workshops on a wide range of subjects, I also run the Alchemy of Story workshop series linking the art and craft of writing and storytelling with the potential for personal development, and which also explore creativity, the imagination, archetypes and symbolism.