Poppy Pretzel: Passage into puberty

I'd like to say that I'm someone that has a solid background in journalism, that writing has been my passion and I've always wanted to write a book. Alas, I'm far less glamorous than that. I am however, someone who's had a unconventional life and I wouldn't have it any other way.

When I was at school, most girls were encouraged to either become secretaries, teachers or nurses. I became a secretary (didn't like to be around sick people and too shy to stand up in front of a group) so off I went to learn shorthand, typing and bookkeeping. As the first to graduate I was offered a receptionist position in a local legal firm and later trained as a para legal to a Lawyer. At last, earning money!

Apart from buying clothes, I started to buy books for the long journey to work. Harold Robbins, Jackie Collins and anything else to keep me awake on the train. At work, I was fortunate enough to be mentored by a lovely older lady, Dot, who taught me many things. The most important was 'never put off to tomorrow what you can do today' and even today I practice this. Working in the legal profession gave me great self discipline, and when writing, this has proven to be a valuable skill.

The years went by and one day, after venturing outside my concrete monolith office, I realised I'd missed the essence of that lovely spring day. Enough of 4 walls, sitting in front of a computer, long train trips and getting 'dressed up' for work. So I left the security of my well paid job and worked in a business that ran school camps for kids. This is where I realised I wanted to work outdoors and so started my training as an outdoors instructor. Weeks and weeks of climbing, paddling, bushwalking along with weeks of courses, workshops and exams, got my skills good enough to actually work with groups.

That's also where my organisational skills shone, as I could prepare for a program efficiently and guide others to do the same. I loved working with young people and had found my niche. I met Vince, who was already an accomplished Guide and Facilitator and together we set up our own business, Serendipity Outdoors where our skills blended together to building a reputable outdoor education business. Every week I was either abseiling off cliffs, bushwalking in the mountains or paddling down a river. A great life. I worked with school groups, women's groups, corporate clients or on large scale expeditions and met some fabulous people. However, I felt I had no real credibility with my peers because I had no tertiary qualifications. So cheekily I applied for a Post Graduate in Outdoor Education course at Monash University, and GOT IN! Without an undergraduate degree. Little did I know then that this was to be my first of many tertiary qualifications over the next 10 years.

Being a passionate environmentalist from an early age, I was rapt that my work now had me travelling every week to different State and National Parks, my office being the top of a cliff or on the banks of a river. I spent years sleeping in a tent, under a tarp or under the stars. I got to meet amazing people and share in their amazing lives. I was invited to speak at the Council of Adult Education as a specialist in Women in the Workplace as well as running their Weekend Escape for Women programs. I guest lectured at Universities, Schools and Community groups on a variety of topics. They were magical times and grounded me for the future.

We sold our business just prior to the birth of our first child Yasmin in 1998. We moved to Alexandra, 120kms east of Melbourne – a beautiful rural town. Surrounded by other families with young children, our family grew with Tiger arriving in 2000 and Indigo in 2002. Motherhood brought new challenges and new joys and in our small community, we all blossomed. Returning to a job in the outdoors wasn't feasible and with crippling arthritis in my knees, I needed to find something new to focus on for when my children were back at school.

In 2003, we made the tough decision to move back closer to Melbourne and the only place we knew that had a similar community was Warrandyte, 25kms east of Melbourne. Buying a house on 2 acres on The Yarra River was the perfect setting for the next step– writing.

My eldest, inquisitive daughter started asking lots of pertinent questions about growing up and we'd have many long chats about what it's like to be a young woman. But she needed more than my words; she needed to hear it from her peers. So I wrote a story about a girl – Poppy. It originally was based loosely on Yasmin but later became a totally fictitious character. I printed some copies for friends whose girls were also reaching puberty and with strong encouragement I started down the path of having it published. 12 months from the first contact with New Holland Publishing, Poppy Pretzel hit the shelves. Now I'm on another journey, this time as a writer and public speaker.

When I'm not writing I'm teaching sculpting, mosaics and other creative arts at local community houses and run school holiday programs for kids.