So, who is Sally Murphy? Good question - and one I sometimes ask myself!

I'm a mum, wife, daughter, teacher, speaker, web site manager, reviewer, story teller and, of course, author. While that sounds like a lot of things to be at once, I still find time to play with my kids, read books, watch tv, cook, clean and a million other things. I seem to thrive on being busy and, when I see a gap, I quickly plug it with another project.

I was born in 1968 in Perth, Western Australia. I had four older sisters and an older brother but it is a lie that the youngest child gets spoilt - even if my siblings don't believe that. As one of six kids I guess I always had someone to play with, but when they were all at school I also had lots of time by myself, when I would invent little fantasy worlds. Should have known then I'd grow up to be a writer!

Some of my earliest memories are to do with books and writing. I remember sitting in my Mum's office writing on a rainbow notepad. The fact that I couldn't write didn't stop me. I filled page after page with little squiggles and then made Mum post these letters off to my various relatives.

I also remember sitting on the mat at kindergarten reading Are You My Mother? to my classmates. I felt very smug that I was the only one who could read, even though I had probably just memorised the book.

When I was three we moved to a country town called Collie, where my parents had a hotel. Growing up in a country pub was interesting. My memories are mostly good but there were some traumatic times in 1978 when a bomb was planted in the pub. Luckily no one was injured when it exploded, but the building was damaged and there were some tense days before the man was arrested.

I went to school in Collie until year ten, then did the last two years at boarding school (which I hated) before going to university. I met my husband Julian in my first week at uni. We now have six children - five boys and a girl.

Having lived in lots of places since we got married - mostly around Western Australia, but we also spent a year in Papua New Guinea - we now live in a tiny town in the Wheatbelt, halfway between Perth and Kalgoorlie. There are only sixty people in the town, and eight of them are us! It is very quiet here, but a great lifestyle for kids and a good place to lock yourself away and write.

We have been here for three and a half years. When we came here I decided to use the quiet lifestyle to pursue my dream of writing for children. I had been trying to get published all of my adult life and had already had four books of educational printables published, but in 2001 I decided to put everything I could into fulfilling my dream of being a children's author.

It worked. In six amazing weeks later that year I had first a chapter book, then another, then two reading books and, finally, my first junior novel accepted. I was flying!

Since then I haven't looked back and I now have fourteen books in print and another eight accepted for publication.

I still have lots of things I want to achieve with my writing and loads more stories I want to see published, but for now I am happy to be able to say I AM a children's author.

As well as writing for children, my other passion is spreading the word about great books. I run a review web site called Aussiereviews (www.aussiereviews.com) where I review as many Australian books as I can find time to read. I also review children's books for Reading Time, the magazine of the Children's Book Council of Australia.

I also appear at literary festivals and do school visits. Most recently I was a presenter at the Re:Views and ALLWrite Festivals in Adelaide.

If you wish to contact me, you can send me an email from my contact page.