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My mum rang me for my birthday a couple of weeks ago.

She had found my old intermediate school reports - most of my teachers said the same thing:  “Elle is very good with her writing and reading but disrupts lessons in class and upsets her classmates.” 

Hmmmm - so basically I'm a pain in the ar*e who can read and write – explains why I write. 

Working full-time as a palliative care nurse for the past seven years, I've rediscovered my inner-child, revisited all the things I dreamed about as a kid. 

I don't think there's one single person on this earth that hasn't felt alone and afraid. 

When you are able to describe very intense emotions/feelings that you have felt personally - in any form of literature and other people can relate - that is pretty awesome.

I came from New Zealand to Australia 11 years ago. 

When the plane landed in Brisbane, I was expecting to see massive red sand hills and maybe the odd kangaroo or wallaby hopping about.

In some places, Australia does remind me of home - I love the people, places, plants and the animals – this is my home away from home. 

My dad was a carpenter/builder and my mum was a butcher at the local meatworks – both were incredibly outstanding with their hands.

I always thought they would be together forever – and I couldn't imagine life without them or my siblings as a child – when they separated I was absolutely devastated. 

To keep 'the demons' out of my head-space, I read whatever I could get my hands on – my favourite authors then were Stephen King, Robert Ludlum, Virginia Andrews and Patricia Highsmith –  my favourite authors now: Bryce Courtenay and John Connolly. 

I am my own worst enemy - thrive on challenges and find myself doing more than I can actually handle – this puts a lot of pressure on me because I am a perfectionist. 

Being quite well educated and a bookworm too, I stand in pretty good stead when I write. 

Because I am fully aware of the massive amounts of literature out there - I've concluded that this is probably why I struggle with the idea of  writing a book - and suffer from acute writer's block. 

All my adult life, I've been drawn to highly educated people or individuals who know more than me. 

If I'm unable to tap into my creative writing psyche, the odd excursion to the local art galleries and theatre – or a beautifully evocative book/movie - often inspires me to sit down and write again.

Several years ago, I started writing a biography on an extremely gifted and tortured woman who craved love and respect from her mother - a woman who spent most of her adult years in constant search of her soul mate - I doubt I'll ever finish it.

Some days I worked 15 to 18 hours a day writing and rewriting it - drove me nuts! 

Now I write articles that I am passionate about and feel will help others i.e. instructive and interesting 'stuff'. 

You can view most of the articles I've written here.

Thank you, Anjuelle Floyd, for taking an interest in me.

Kind Regards

Elle Pedersen