From when I was 4 .years old I was brought up in a Christian religious sect. It was like being in a cult only I did not live in a separate commune but our family owned our own house and went to public schools and got regular jobs. I do think in a way this was harder growing up especially having to obey all the rules when observing others not having to.

These rules became so embedded into my psyche especially the fact that this was the only true church on earth and all others were wrong. I really believed that especially when I went to the church high school which was a boarding school near Hamilton NZ. Later I even went on a mission for the church in Australia where we knocked on doors and sold our books,

When I was teaching at Sunday School I used to design my own materials and loved doing that. It was then I started writing poetry but my ex husband destroyed my all my papers during a clean up he did when I was in hospital having my third child..

t wasn't until 4 children later my then husband became aware of inconsistencies in the church history and other information that we both decided to leave the church. It took a lot of agonizing on my part as I had been in this church for about 30 years by then. I wanted to kill myself because what was the purpose of life? There was nothing to replace my long held beliefs just a big dark hole. I contemplated suicide.

When I split form my ex. I was not well physically as well as mentally and I went to a naturopath who unfortunately. although he did help me heal he also took advantage of me. From that moment on he has continued to try and dominate my life and now I live with someone else he still insists that he is my friend and that he saved me. 

It took me about 6 years to formulate my first book but by this time I was in my late sixties. I had received a cancer scare which interfered with the writing progress but managed to get through the process and continue.