These are some of my achievements, both writing-related and non-writing related:

Writing Achievements

Had an article published on the front page of the North Side Courier.
Reported on the Sydney Writers Festival for Festival News twice.
Read out some of my short stories at anthology launches.
Took part in a panel discussion at a (very) small spec-fic festival.
Took part in a blog interview for the Hopscotch anthology.
Mentored a student for a journalism subject.
Worked as a contractor for the Federal Publishing Company for a time.
Had some of my short stories mentioned on covers of anthologies.

Other Achievements

Entered the Cumberland Art and Photography Awards 2019.
Took part in the 2014 Guinness World Record for the largest group blind date.
Created my own three minute short film (a comedy).
Had some of my photos published with articles\stories.
Won a school running race when I was eight.
Was promoted from the intermediate to advanced science class in year 10 of high school.
Received the second highest grade in the school in year 11 Human Biology.
Took Channel 9's IQ test in 2003: my result was an IQ of 125 (top 10% of the population).
Went on a ghost tour in Port Arthur (before the incident in the news).
Completed the City to Surf 26 times.
Completed the 2km Shark Island Swimming Race once.
Climbed the hill that the Hollywood sign is on.
Scuba-dived in Hawaii.
Snorkelled on the Great Barrier Reef.
Went tobogganning and tubing in an indoor snow park in Dubai.
Went on a safari in the Krugar National Park, South Africa.
Went on a guided walk from Katoomba to the Jenolan Caves.

About Me

I've been writing ever since I was six years old. I've written novels, novellas, children's books, short stories, articles, reviews etc. I've had some of them published commerically, and self-published most of them in ebooks on Amazon or Smashwords. I also do editing, proofreading, copywriting or typing\record keeping from time to time. I run a short story competition twice a year.

I taught myself computer programming when I was 15 years old, did it as a hobby for years, ran a BBS (Wild Thoughts BBS) for a few years in the early 90s and studied a computer science degree. I've worked in various IT jobs: computer programmer, computer laboratory\helpdesk assistant, database analyst, webmaster, Internet Assessor.

I've done other types of work over the years: gardening, delivering local newspapers, kitchenhand in a fast food store, cleaning, conducting market research interviews, clerical work and data entry, delivering pamphlets, sales work, collecting donations for charity, telemarketing, mystery shopping, taking part in market research discussions and product tests, taking part in medical tests, recording voice files, working on election polling booths, being an extra, tutoring, share trading, photography\photo editing, customer service (phone and email).

My Qualifications

Master of Arts in Professional Writing from UTS (University of Technology Sydney)
Graduate Diploma in Journalism from UTS (University of Technology Sydney)
Bachelor of Science (Computing) with distinction from University of Western Sydney (which has since changed its name to Western Sydney University)
Certificate Level 3 in Public Administration from Australian Bureau of Statistics
Year 12 Certificate of Secondary Education and Tertiary Entrance Exam from Applecross Senior High School, WA

Short Courses and Workshops I've Completed (non-writing related)

Attitudes and Actions for Achievement
Delphi Primer
Call centre training (customer service\sales)
Project Management
Leadership and teamwork
First Aid
Windows 95
FTP
Lotus 123
Lotus Notes 4.5
UNIX Solaris 2.x File Management
Lotus Notes Application Development 1
Lotus Notes Application Development 2
Introduction to SQL Windows
Introduction to SAS
Advanced SAS
Introductory Statistics
Occupational Health and Safety
Keyboarding and Computer Awareness
Job Search

Short Courses and Workshops I've Completed (writing-related)

Teeline Shorthand at a journalism college in Sydney
Writing Pitches at a centre in Sydney
Writing and Selling Feature Articles, NSW Writers Centre
Unblock the block, NSW Writers Centre
How to Get Published at a centre in Sydney
Time to Write, WEA, Sydney
Fiction writing, WEA, Sydney
Writing For Yourself, Tuart College, Perth
Fiction writing, Tuart College, Perth
Creative writing, TAFE, Perth

Literary Competition Successes

2025: Third Place in Jan monthly Witcraft competition for the short story 'Quirky Qwerty'.
2022: Regional winner of WestWords Living Stories 'Things Unsaid' competition for the short story 'Saturday Dreams'.
2018: Long-listed for the So Bad It's Good competition for the short story 'Eating Mango Sandwiches in Nigeria'.
2017: Short-listed for the Words of Wyndham Writing Competition for the short story 'Robbery'.
2017: Third Place in City of Rockingham Short Story Awards for the short story 'Parrot Lady'.
2017: ZineWest Commendation Certificate for the short story 'Danger: Link Box'.
2014: Joint ZineWest Editors' Award for the short story 'Email from Azbekhistan'.
2010: Special Commendation in the Scarlet Stiletto Awards for the short story 'Email from Azbekhistan'.
2009: Won the innovation category of the Scarlet Stiletto Awards for the narrative poem 'The Nun and the Assassin\The Assassin and the Nun'.
2004: Highly Commended in the Katharine Susannah Prichard Sci-Fi\Fantasy Awards for the short story 'Virtual Reality'.

Publications in which I've published fiction:

Note that I've had my work published over a number of years and not all of these publications still exist.

Anthologies: 41 Arguments Avant La Lettre, 9000 Miles Away, Ambiguous Loss, Between Dusk and Dawn, Dancing Dragons, Eve's Gift and Other Stories, Hopscotch, Mounted ARI's Luft, NWG Anthology, One Surviving Poem, Seasons, Short and Twisted, Stay A While, Street Musicians, Westwords' Living Stories, Words of Wyndham 2017 competition anthology, ZineWest.

Literary Magazines: 21D Magazine, Folly, Goulburn Valley Writers Group's Tamba, Narrator, Northern Eclecta, Quadrant (a right-wing publication in which I've subversively published left-wing short stories), Ripples, The Write Angle, Westerly.

E-Publications: Broadkill Review, Expression, Loud Coffee Press.

Websites: Anti-Sf, Books Online, H2G2, National Young Writers' Festival, NWG Pop-Up Zine, Literary Yard, Pixel Papers, RMSED, The Radii, Witcraft.

Publications in which I've published non-fiction:

Note that I've had my work published over a number of years and not all of these publications still exist.

Anthologies: NWG Anthology, Polestar, ZineWest.

Newspapers: Auburn Review, Australian Senior, Inner West Courier, North Side Courier, Parramatta Advertiser (letters to the editor), Parramatta Sun, Sydney Morning Herald (Column 8), Sydney Writers' Festival's Festival News, The Precinct, Wentworth Courier.

Magazines and Newsletters: Australian Traveller, Capture, Money (letters to the editor), Newsbite, Newswrite, NZ Author, Partners in Crime, Screen Education, Stiletto, Uni of Western Sydney's Athena, UTS' Fine Print, UTS' Full Bench, UTS' Vertigo (poster).

E-Publications: H2G2 (The Post), Newsbite, NSW Writers' Centre blog, Partners in Crime e-newsletter, UTS e:Connect, UTS Fine Print, Village Voice e-newsletter, Writers Connect, Writing 4 Success e-newsletter.

Websites: Federal Publishing Company's Village Voice, H2G2, Hecate's Australian Women's Book Review, IMDB, Journal of Politics and Culture, Photozo, Pure Travel, Sydney Writers' Festival's Festival News, The Chimes, The Radii, Thylazine, UTS' Newsday, UTS' Reportage, Village Voice.

Writing, Editing and Proofreading Work:

Sub-edited and categorised news stories, and wrote news stories, for a news website.
Edited a resume for a Senior Systems Engineer/Service Delivery Manager.
Proofread a self-published poetry anthology.
Wrote a scholarship application letter for a cookery course.
Edited document templates for a travel tour operator.
Edited an SEO service proposal.
Edited an MBA research proposal.
Edited a blog entry on gestational diabetes.
Wrote a letter to a doctor on behalf of a patient.
SEOd an article on alkaline powder for a website.
Edited a health and wellbeing service proposal.
Wrote selection criteria statement for an application for a marketing position.
Collated and edited information for an associate professor application.
Formatted and proofread a playscript.
Edited a resume and wrote selection criteria for an administration\customer service position.
Edited podcast scripts and documents for a business broker website.
Proofread a gratitude journal manuscript.
Wrote an ad for a petsitting service.
Compiled summaries of news stories.
Edited a resume and cover letter for a service desk team leader.
Wrote articles on locations and events for a real estate website.
Proofread an immuneology research project proposal.
Did peer tutoring for a uni journalism subject.
Writing content and providing layout suggestions for a clothing website.
Wrote ads to sell items on eBay for others.
Wrote Facebook status updates for a social media marketing business.
Read and commented on ebooks.
Edited a document on learning theories.
Typed and proofread transcripts from recordings for an overseas business.
Proofread content on a personal development webpage.
Proofread webpages.
Checked a new job search website and provided written feedback.
Wrote two articles, on the Myers Brigg Type Indicator and the Socratic Method.
Read and reviewed an ebook on corporate culture.

My Social Media Accounts