In addition to writing, my other main creative outlet is music. I started playing piano when I was ten and that was my instrument until I went to college where I lived on campus in Bathurst, NSW, and away from home for the first time in my life.

There, as one does, I went to my fair share of parties. Unfortunately, though I would happily play to anyone that would listen, I found that pianos were usually in short supply. Loving music as I do though, I was undeterred! It wasn’t long before I picked up a guitar and felt like I’d found home again.

I’ve been playing ever since, mostly to my favourites which range from Neil Young soft rock to Evanescence grunge. I often use my music to help kick start the imagination in my writing too. It’s amazing how just letting the mind wander while strumming will dissolve a creative block and the story and words will start to flow again. The computer on which I write is in my studio too but out of the picture above to the left, so it’s easy to switch from one to the other!

I have two Maton cutaway guitars that I love - a CW80 that my mum and dad gave me for my 21st birthday quite some time ago now (hanging on the wall on the right above) and a Blackwood Dreadnought EBW70C (in the stand on the floor) that I bought recently and is just the most beautiful instrument I’ve ever played.

The other guitar you can see there is an electric that I made by hand. I carved the body from a single block of maple and sourced all the parts from the internet. I do love working with wood and making interesting things, so this was a wonderfully satisfying thing to build which I’ve enjoyed playing for some years now. You may be interested to know that I made the treble clef and stave wall hanging you can see in the studio too. I hand carved the treble clef from cedar then stained it before hanging to give the studio a pleasingly musical atmosphere.

I’ve put a few pics below you can check out if you wish. If you have any questions or would just like to chat about any of this - just drop me a line!