Bio
I was born in Brisbane and went to school at Marcellin College, Enoggera (it was closed not long after I left, but that’s purely coincidence) and Mount Maria College, Mitchelton. As a student, I excelled in fibbing, avoiding conflict and copying off Michelle Eaton in Ancient History; I was pathetic at Maths, truancy and cracking onto girls. After school, I went to the University of Queensland where I did degrees in Human Movement Studies and Booze Cruises.
In the early nineties, I taught HPE at Ipswich Special School, before moving on to Milpera SHS in 1996. Milpera – Australia’s only government-run school for migrants and refugees – served as the backdrop for the MVP novel and demonstrated to me, on a daily basis, the true meaning of ‘most valuable potential’. I left teaching in 2004 with fond memories, life lessons, and knowledge of swear words in many different languages.
The author journey began around 1993. After abandoning the sporting dream of becoming the next somebody/anybody, I took up the authentic writing dream of becoming the first Darren Groth. My initial collection of stories called Shoot The Lights Out – the action-packed, funny, pacy, sometimes sexy adventures of basketballer Chris ‘Pistol’ Weatherall – I wrote longhand on ‘Department of Primary Industries’ paper, before Mum typed it out for me. I then looked for a publisher in the ‘Yellow Pages’. It wasn’t published.
These days I am published. I write on a computer and no longer consult parents or phone books.
For fun, I watch ’Breaking Bad’ with my beautiful Canadian wife, or go swimming with my ten year old twins.
Awards
Mentorship awarded by Australian Society of Authors for the manuscript Most Valuable Potential, March 1999
Longlisted in the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards Unpublished Manuscript category for the manuscript Most Valuable Potential, October 2000
Shortlisted in the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards Young Adult Book category for Most Valuable Potential, August 2004
Official Selection ‘Books From Our Backyard: 100 Must-Read Books From Queensland’, Most Valuable Potential, September 2006
Shortlisted (with brother Simon) in The Text Prize for Concentrate, August 2009
Book of the Month at Booktopia Bookstore for Kindling, July 2010
Book of the Month at Lindfield Bookshop for Kindling, August 2010
Book of the Month in Notebook Magazine for Kindling, August 2010
Yourperbole