Aleesah Darlison

Like many authors, I've been writing for as long as I can remember. I didn't realise I wanted to be a writer, however, until I was sixteen and I won the NSW division of a nation-wide short story competition. But when I told people I wanted to be a writer they said not to do it! For some reason, I listened to them and studied marketing at uni instead. But in the background I was always writing, even when I was working two jobs later on during my twenties. Writing was clearly a suppressed desire of mine.

It wasn't until I quit my office job to have children that I thought I would try to make writing a career. I attended workshops, formed writers' groups and wrote in every spare moment I had. Since then, I haven't looked back - and I still write every moment that I can!

I write in a rather small, but very functional study. It has a desk, a chair, two bookcases, a filing cabinet, several printers and a big cupboard to store all my papers and manuscripts in. I have drawings by my children up on the wall as well as quotes and writing tips to inspire and motivate me.

My three children are a constant source of inspiration and ideas. Sometimes they come out with the funniest things that I know must simply go into one of my books!

I also draw on my own memories and experiences from childhood, which provide me with a seemingly endless source of stories and emotions I can harvest.

As well, friends and family often tell me stories that make for perfect ingredients in a story I might be working on. My picture book, Warambi, which is due out soon, is actually based on a true story my mother told me about a tiny bat that made it's home in a very unusual place.

Other than that, I observe what is going on around me all the time. I will often jot down notes about something I have seen or heard and later use it as material for a story. 

My proper job was as a marketing manager in the finance and building industries. I have also worked as a clinical research assistant at a large pharmaceutical company, a check-out chick in a supermarket, a research assistant at the UNSW, and a nursery assistant (plants not babies!) when I was at high school.

It's loads of fun! I love writing scenes and creating characters that will make kids laugh and that they will take to their hearts. I think that's my number one aim for anything I write.

When I was very little, the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis were my favourites as well as anything by Enid Blyton. I also read lots of fairytales and Golden Books, like 'The Pokey Little Puppy'. 

When I was a teenager, I really loved Alexander Cordell's Welsh Trilogy, which began with 'Rape of the Fair Country' and which was set in Wales in the 1800s. His characters and settings were so different to how we live in Australia. The stories of hardship the Welsh people suffered down the mines, the poverty and the struggle... it was heartbreaking, yet they still managed to experience love and joy throughout it all. I read all of Cordell's books, anything I could get my hands on and I'm sure I cried in just about everyone them! 

I also loved J.M. Auel's prehistoric Earth's Children series about a young girl called Ayla which began with 'Clan of the Cave Bear'. Again, strong characters and unusual settings, two things I have always been drawn to.

These series weren't necessarily written for teenagers, although they did feature 'young adults' as their main characters. I did discover them when I was in my teens, though, and I was utterly captivated by the storytelling at the time.

I have won a number of awards for my short stories and manuscripts. Please see the 'Awards' page for more information.