Alarms are going off. Maybe someone says something and you brush it off. At first. Maybe you see a character that resonates, read a book that clicks. Maybe it’s someone else’s diagnosis. A friend. A family member. Your child. So, you search the Internet, and your head gets quiet: what if I’m autistic? You keep […]

Have you seen it? In the shops, in the streets, on the screens? Everything is so. Bloody. Shiny. Don’t get me wrong – it’s beautiful. Mesmerising. Twinkling. But exhausting. I’ve been out more than usual the last month or so and it’s obvious. As demonstrated by my shaky filter; thoughts spilling out onto tables and […]

The autistic female. If she makes eye contact, connects socially, and -shock horror- smiles; how do you spot her? When I was diagnosed, I started reading everything. Stories, studies, stats. The word ‘autism’ made me flinch, I had very little understanding of what it meant – and even less of what it would mean for me as a […]

How are you? Really? I’m currently a million things and I’ve now got less than two seconds to decipher which one you want. This on top of knowing that I can only tell the truth, and I need to protect your feelings, our relationship, and try and avoid getting the look. When I worked in an […]

Here’s the thing about being sick, shutdown, out of action, or otherwise forcibly paused; it sets you on fire. On fire to be, do, or have anything. Who knows how long you’ve got until the next time? So, you have to be twice as on when you’re on, because who knows when or how long you’ll […]

This line in I, Tonya so perfectly describes for me the frustration of being judged by your ability to fit in, rather than your ability to do the work. In the scene, Tonya is frustrated at being blocked for success in the skating competitions. She confronts the judge and he confirms it: she is being marked […]

I’m guest posting over at Shelley Workinger’s blog, But What Are They Eating? Confession time: The original candy in The Jelly Bean Crisis wasn’t jellybeans. I changed the candy to jellybeans to tailor the book to my American agent / audience. It was originally The Winegum Theory (winegums are NZ lollies 🙂 Like jet-plane-lolly-flavoured thick-coin-shaped gum […]

For me, being an artist is a kind of crushing necessity. There’s no quenching it, no dealing with it. It’s never over; it just is. Like dreaming, like breathing. It has to be. It’s not logical – this making something from nothing. Translating the whisperings of the universe. There’s rarely money in it. It’s never […]

Ohhh, guys I had such a beautiful meeting. The kind where we all got teary and goosebumpy. The kind where we laughed and clicked and made plans to change the world. Perfect timing, synchronicity, serendipity.This is what happens when you put yourself out there. When you shine so your people can find you. I’m still scared. […]