Noelene Jenkinson - Australian Author

I'm one of 4 million Australian baby boomers born after World War II. I grew up in the small country town of Murtoa in the heartland of the Victorian Wimmera wheatbelt of Australia. I am now settled in nearby Horsham, so have lived in the region all my life. The first typewriter I used was an old black Remington in an agricultural farming office where my Dad worked. I typed my mother letters and took them home, but the laptop is now my equipment of choice. I married Rod in the swinging Seventies, we have two adult daughters and one adorable granddaughter. Apart from writing, I had no idea being a 'Nanna' could bring so much joy.

My Writing Background

From my first novels, my stories always had a strong romantic element so I guess my work all comes under the umbrella of women's fiction. Personally, I like a positive or at least hopeful ending. Before 1990 when I joined the Romance Writers of Australia, I had far less idea of what I needed to hone my skills in the craft of creative writing. I've learned much since then, have collected endless rejections as all apprentice authors do, and now have five published sweet romance novellas to my credit, all of which are also available as Linford Large Print romance paperbacks. See My Books for details.

I prefer to use Australian settings in my stories. As well as the modern timeframe, history is also a real "biggie" with me. I'm planning a series of Australian sagas and have some story ideas set in the Middle Ages, another historical era that interests me. My office has one wall of bookshelves, all groaning with Australian history and medieval research books, and a huge TBR [to-be-read] pile of novels in all time periods and settings from the Middle Ages to World War 2. Plus a step ladder to get to them all.

My other interests are crocheting afghan rugs that I donate to charity; occasionally pottering in my native garden [fortunately it's fairly self-sufficient, even in the current long-term drought]; last year I discovered cardmaking through my daughter's interest in scrapbooking; and I just love doing crosswords. I've also recently bought a new electronic digital keyboard which has rekindled my love of music.

Another major interest of mine is genealogy and over the past 20 years I have researched and published three family history books. Two were my own paternal German ancestors of HINCH from Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany, and PETRASS from Gross Schmollen, Prussia [now south west Poland], which took about 10 years combined, and I have recently completed my husband's JENKINSON Irish ancestors from Rathdrum, County Wicklow, on which I worked for 8 years.