About Mrs Mac
Where were you born? Fairfield, which is west of Sydney, NSW
Where do you live now? Thirroul, which is south of Sydney.....just north of Wollongong. When I was a child, we spent many family holidays at Thirroul and my husband and I settled there.....we both loved the sea.
Do you have children? Yes, two, although they are both grown up (mostly!).
What about pets? As a child we always had pets of some type. My elder sister 'won' a ginger kitten when we were very young and we called him 'Mittens'. Then she brought home a chick from the Fairfield Show one year, thinking it was a hen. 'Chirpy' grew into a very loud rooster! A few years ago my son kept a blue tongue lizard who gave birth to about 15 babies! Now we have 'Buster' a black and white border collie. He is full of personality!
What jobs have you had? At the end of Year 12, I had every kids' dream job....in our local toy shop! Just before Christmas, it was soooooo busy, but a great place to work. Then, during university, I worked at Myers in Sydney...in the women's underwear section! I've also worked as a 'strapper' at the horse races. Once I finished Uni and Teacher's College, I was on a waiting list to get a job as a teacher with the Department of Education, so I applied for a job as a Library Assistant at Parramatta City Library where my fate was sealed! I studied librarianship part time, later working as a librarian at Auburn and then with Fairfield City Libraries. After my first day at Parramatta I remember thinking as I left.. 'This is the job for me!"
When my son started school, I began thinking about Teacher Librarianship....now I have the best of both worlds. I work at Thirroul Public School with terrific kids from my own community.
What are your hobbies? Writing, reading, movies, walking, horseracing, writing letters to the editor!
How did you become an author? I've always enjoyed writing and when I was in Year 6, we had to write a chapter book for a class assignment for our teacher, Miss Costa. I remember I wrote about a racehorse called 'Glory Bound' that my father had an interest in. I suppose I've been 'scribbling' ever since! In 2007 I submitted my first story to the NSW School Magazine for consideration and it was accepted. I've had many rejection letters, but some of those have included feedback which has certainly been helfpul and keeps you 'buoyant' as a writer.
Where do you get your ideas from? Always from real life. Either someone has mentioned something to me, or it's something I've seen or experienced myself. An example is the story 'Waiting For Rain' which was written after a conversation with my brother who owns and runs a thoroughbred horse stud at Scone. It helps if you are a keen observer of things around you. Everyone has a story to tell.
How long does it take to write a book? It depends. Picture books, while the shortest in text length, take extra time due to the illustrations. I wrote 'Coming Home' at the end of 2008 and 'polished' it for two years off and on, before it was accepted for publication in 2011. It was published in October, 2012. I wote a short story version of 'Try!' in 2007 and spent time reworking it before submitting to the NSW School Magazine in 2009. It was accepted and published in 2010. I decided to rework it as a chapter book and published it as an ebook in a few months.
What has helped you most with your writing? Re-writing! Leaving a story to 'sit' after a first draft, then looking at it again and working on it some more. I do this a lot! Asking for honest feedback from people you trust. I have been in an online writing group and a couple of other authors/editors have been particularly helpful.My children don't read my work until it's published in some form! I also think my hobby of writing letters to the editor has helped a great deal as I've had to make sure I grab the reader's attention and hold it so they can read my point of view! That's great for persuasive texts, but it also helps writing generally.
Have any other questions? Email me. or use the Contact page.
© Sharon McGuinness, March 2012
Where do you live now? Thirroul, which is south of Sydney.....just north of Wollongong. When I was a child, we spent many family holidays at Thirroul and my husband and I settled there.....we both loved the sea.
Do you have children? Yes, two, although they are both grown up (mostly!).
What about pets? As a child we always had pets of some type. My elder sister 'won' a ginger kitten when we were very young and we called him 'Mittens'. Then she brought home a chick from the Fairfield Show one year, thinking it was a hen. 'Chirpy' grew into a very loud rooster! A few years ago my son kept a blue tongue lizard who gave birth to about 15 babies! Now we have 'Buster' a black and white border collie. He is full of personality!
What jobs have you had? At the end of Year 12, I had every kids' dream job....in our local toy shop! Just before Christmas, it was soooooo busy, but a great place to work. Then, during university, I worked at Myers in Sydney...in the women's underwear section! I've also worked as a 'strapper' at the horse races. Once I finished Uni and Teacher's College, I was on a waiting list to get a job as a teacher with the Department of Education, so I applied for a job as a Library Assistant at Parramatta City Library where my fate was sealed! I studied librarianship part time, later working as a librarian at Auburn and then with Fairfield City Libraries. After my first day at Parramatta I remember thinking as I left.. 'This is the job for me!"
When my son started school, I began thinking about Teacher Librarianship....now I have the best of both worlds. I work at Thirroul Public School with terrific kids from my own community.
What are your hobbies? Writing, reading, movies, walking, horseracing, writing letters to the editor!
How did you become an author? I've always enjoyed writing and when I was in Year 6, we had to write a chapter book for a class assignment for our teacher, Miss Costa. I remember I wrote about a racehorse called 'Glory Bound' that my father had an interest in. I suppose I've been 'scribbling' ever since! In 2007 I submitted my first story to the NSW School Magazine for consideration and it was accepted. I've had many rejection letters, but some of those have included feedback which has certainly been helfpul and keeps you 'buoyant' as a writer.
Where do you get your ideas from? Always from real life. Either someone has mentioned something to me, or it's something I've seen or experienced myself. An example is the story 'Waiting For Rain' which was written after a conversation with my brother who owns and runs a thoroughbred horse stud at Scone. It helps if you are a keen observer of things around you. Everyone has a story to tell.
How long does it take to write a book? It depends. Picture books, while the shortest in text length, take extra time due to the illustrations. I wrote 'Coming Home' at the end of 2008 and 'polished' it for two years off and on, before it was accepted for publication in 2011. It was published in October, 2012. I wote a short story version of 'Try!' in 2007 and spent time reworking it before submitting to the NSW School Magazine in 2009. It was accepted and published in 2010. I decided to rework it as a chapter book and published it as an ebook in a few months.
What has helped you most with your writing? Re-writing! Leaving a story to 'sit' after a first draft, then looking at it again and working on it some more. I do this a lot! Asking for honest feedback from people you trust. I have been in an online writing group and a couple of other authors/editors have been particularly helpful.My children don't read my work until it's published in some form! I also think my hobby of writing letters to the editor has helped a great deal as I've had to make sure I grab the reader's attention and hold it so they can read my point of view! That's great for persuasive texts, but it also helps writing generally.
Have any other questions? Email me. or use the Contact page.
© Sharon McGuinness, March 2012