About Me
Photo by Jason Wingrove
In October 2012, I made the life-changing decision to move on from the job I had had for decades, the job I had thought would see me out. But how would I earn an income?
Admittedly, I did have two book contracts, so I knew that they would keep me busy – and also impact on my ability to find regular work. My first international book, The Peculiar Case of the Electric Constable: a True Tale of Passion, Poison and Pursuit, was to be published by Britain's Oneworld in the UK and the rest of the English-speaking world in 2013. I also had another contract with Allen & Unwin for a book titled The Lucretia Borgia of Botany Bay (my fifth book) which would come out in 2014. But writing is not a particularly lucrative profession for all but a handful of famous authors. I needed to find other sources of income. So what would I do?
I thought about undertaking paid research for family historians. I knew I could build up a sound business as I was already well-known in the genealogy world. But that didn't really interest me. What comes naturally to me – but not to most people – is writing books and giving talks. I asked myself what my vision was, what I would really like to achieve. The answer was: to entertain and to educate. So I needed to write more "how to" books and invest time and energy in my speaking career.
I joined the National Speakers Association of Australia and began doing speaker training courses. Among the lessons I learnt was to "become a celebrity in a niche". Since I had worked in the family history industry for many years, I decided to take their advice and build up my speaking career in the family history arena. So that's where I am heading in 2013. So many exciting possibilities, but so little time to pursue them. Oh, for more hours in the day!
But what about my past? How did I get to this point?
The past
I first became interested in family history research while I was still at school. I decided at that time that I wanted a career in the industry. Soon after leaving university, I was employed as Project Officer for the Australian Biographical and Genealogical Record (ABGR). In that role I edited six volumes of early New South Wales muster returns (similar to Census returns) and later the Convict Indents for 1788-1812 (click here for a list of all my publications). That project transformed into the Biographical Database of Australia and I became the General Editor. I remained with the project until 2012 and during that time processed convict indents and free passenger records, military lists, baptism, marriage and burial records, and many more records rtelating to colonial New South Wales, Norfolk Island and Tasmania.
My journey into the world of professional writing began in 2004 when I discovered a sex-scandal that I thought would make a wonderful book. It became An Irresistible Temptation: the true story of Jane New and a colonial scandal and was published by Allen and Unwin in 2006. It was followed by Breaking the Bank: An Extraordinary Colonial Robbery in 2008 and Captain Thunderbolt and his Lady: the true story of bushrangers Frederick Ward and Mary Ann Bugg in 2011, both by Allen & Unwin.
During that period, I gave many seminars, and some of my talks were on the subject of writing family histories. I found that the attendees wanted more information than I had time to provide ... which led to one of those "ding" moments. I am a writer, so why not write a book! I was giving a seminar on the same subject five weeks later to an audience of 250 people so I had to work very fast. Twenty thousands words in one week! Exhausting!!! Then a week of editing and typesetting and it was off to the printers. I named it Writing INTERESTING Family Histories. The book sold out in six months so I produced an updated version in 2010. I have ideas for another half-dozen books but the problem is finding the time to write them.
Meanwhile, in 2002, I was voted a Fellow of the Society of Australian Genealogists for my services to genealogy. In 2011, I was appointed an adjunct lecturer at the University of New England because of my genealogical and popular history publications.
For further information, see FAQs and Personal Blog.
Admittedly, I did have two book contracts, so I knew that they would keep me busy – and also impact on my ability to find regular work. My first international book, The Peculiar Case of the Electric Constable: a True Tale of Passion, Poison and Pursuit, was to be published by Britain's Oneworld in the UK and the rest of the English-speaking world in 2013. I also had another contract with Allen & Unwin for a book titled The Lucretia Borgia of Botany Bay (my fifth book) which would come out in 2014. But writing is not a particularly lucrative profession for all but a handful of famous authors. I needed to find other sources of income. So what would I do?
I thought about undertaking paid research for family historians. I knew I could build up a sound business as I was already well-known in the genealogy world. But that didn't really interest me. What comes naturally to me – but not to most people – is writing books and giving talks. I asked myself what my vision was, what I would really like to achieve. The answer was: to entertain and to educate. So I needed to write more "how to" books and invest time and energy in my speaking career.
I joined the National Speakers Association of Australia and began doing speaker training courses. Among the lessons I learnt was to "become a celebrity in a niche". Since I had worked in the family history industry for many years, I decided to take their advice and build up my speaking career in the family history arena. So that's where I am heading in 2013. So many exciting possibilities, but so little time to pursue them. Oh, for more hours in the day!
But what about my past? How did I get to this point?
The past
I first became interested in family history research while I was still at school. I decided at that time that I wanted a career in the industry. Soon after leaving university, I was employed as Project Officer for the Australian Biographical and Genealogical Record (ABGR). In that role I edited six volumes of early New South Wales muster returns (similar to Census returns) and later the Convict Indents for 1788-1812 (click here for a list of all my publications). That project transformed into the Biographical Database of Australia and I became the General Editor. I remained with the project until 2012 and during that time processed convict indents and free passenger records, military lists, baptism, marriage and burial records, and many more records rtelating to colonial New South Wales, Norfolk Island and Tasmania.
My journey into the world of professional writing began in 2004 when I discovered a sex-scandal that I thought would make a wonderful book. It became An Irresistible Temptation: the true story of Jane New and a colonial scandal and was published by Allen and Unwin in 2006. It was followed by Breaking the Bank: An Extraordinary Colonial Robbery in 2008 and Captain Thunderbolt and his Lady: the true story of bushrangers Frederick Ward and Mary Ann Bugg in 2011, both by Allen & Unwin.
During that period, I gave many seminars, and some of my talks were on the subject of writing family histories. I found that the attendees wanted more information than I had time to provide ... which led to one of those "ding" moments. I am a writer, so why not write a book! I was giving a seminar on the same subject five weeks later to an audience of 250 people so I had to work very fast. Twenty thousands words in one week! Exhausting!!! Then a week of editing and typesetting and it was off to the printers. I named it Writing INTERESTING Family Histories. The book sold out in six months so I produced an updated version in 2010. I have ideas for another half-dozen books but the problem is finding the time to write them.
Meanwhile, in 2002, I was voted a Fellow of the Society of Australian Genealogists for my services to genealogy. In 2011, I was appointed an adjunct lecturer at the University of New England because of my genealogical and popular history publications.
For further information, see FAQs and Personal Blog.