;)
I grew up in the seventies and eighties with a bit of an 'alternative' background, and lived in Australia, New Zealand, England and Europe, finally finishing my last year of high school in L.A.
Back in Australia I spent the years between 17 and 35 living in Sydney, Melbourne, the Northern Rivers and Brisbane, working a variety of jobs: waitressing, dancing, reception, massage, apprentice chef (dishpig), checkout chick - you name it, the dodgier the better. My first job ever was working as a cook/deckhand on a prawn trawler out of Cairns. I had an early morning watch where I had to drive the boat until the day I crashed it into a reef.
I started my first Simone Kirsch book, Peepshow, in 2000 while living in Elwood and St Kilda. I'd always wanted to write, but had found it much easier to talk about than to do! I was attempting a Diploma of Professional Writing and a Private Investigator's Certificate (never finished either) and I think that by creating Simone I was paying homage to the hard boiled PI novels I loved, while replacing the private dick with a female character who managed to be an ass-kicking bad-girl and feminist, all at the same time.
I completed a BA in Communications at the University of Technology, Sydney in 1998, an MPhil in English at the University of Queensland in 2008, a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults in Hanoi, 2009, and am currently studying for a Diploma of Education.
I've lived in Hanoi, Vietnam, since 2007 and spend my time writing, teaching, and scooting around on a Honda Wave, trying not to die.