FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is your Background?
I was born in country Victoria, in Australia, to two teachers. We grew up in the country, but I went to school in Melbourne. My father was very clever, he had a mathematician's mind, but he was also an adventurer who loved maps and travel. My mother was an adventurer, too; she used to take his maps and drag him off to the four corners of the Earth, on wonderful journeys through Patagonia, Alaska, the Arctic Circle, and many other places. They were born to be together. I have two older brothers, one of whom was in management at The Age newspaper for two decades, and the other is a project manager. I am married to a lovely man who works as a policy analyst in government, and does a bit of politics on the side. We have been together for a decade, but only married in 2018, in Central Park, New York City. (I was a reluctant bride.)
Where Have You Worked?
My first job was assistant to a famous magazine editor in Sydney, in 1990. She was terrifying. It was so stressful that I decided to resign and enroll in university to do a BA Degree in Media. After university, I moved to London. (I’d already lived in in Denmark, for a year, in 1986.) London in the mid-1990s was a glamorous, exhilarating place; full of energy and ambition and alcohol in equal measures. It was the early Tony Blair years. Everyone worked hard but had a wild time. I ended up marrying a man I met there, and stayed for many years. I worked as a publishing assistant for a book editor, then a journalist on a travel magazine. Part of my heart is still in London; I go back every year. I love Paris too, having spent a lot of time there, but London is special to me. My ex-husband and I returned to Australia to live and I worked as a journalist and columnist (Inside Melbourne magazine), before being headhunted to edit magazines (IPMG magazines). I also worked as a senior writer for Melbourne Magazine, and contributed to magazines such as Vogue Living (under Melbourne editor Helen Redmond), and the Sunday magazine in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age broadsheet newspapers. All these roles, and moves, weren’t unusual – at that time, journalism was so fast-paced; everybody wrote fast, and they also changed jobs frequently (and often moved interstate) in order to rise up the career ladder. It was the high-tide mark of media. Little did we know it would all change. Little did we know we were enjoying the glory days.
Why Did You Switch Careers and Move into Books?
All through the 1990s, journalists were anxious. The stress and deadlines were incredibly intense. My marriage broke up and then, when I became a magazine editor, I began working insane hours, so I began writing a novel to relieve the stress. It was chick-lit, and appalling. (My friend actually said: “This is an appalling novel”.) A literary agent was keen on it, but it was so awful I couldn't finish it. So I returned to writing a memoir I’d started while living in Europe. But the memoir was hard-going, too.
How Did You Get Your Big Break?
While I was working full time and writing the memoir at night and on weekends, I decided (irrationally) to do two coffee-table books on design. I found a kind publisher who was willing to listen to the proposals but who said: “I’m going on holidays tomorrow night: be here at 2PM tomorrow so we can discuss the projects at length”. So the next day I flew to Sydney, got a taxi to the North Shore, and when the taxi dropped me off at the wrong spot, hitched lift with a little old lady, with minutes to spare. I told the publisher the story of hitchhiking to the appointment, and she laughed, and I walked out of the meeting with a two-book deal. For the next eight months, I flew interstate on weekends to shoot the two books. On Monday mornings, I would drive to work at 6am, scan the trannies (slides), and then, after everyone had left at 5PM continue to work on the books, often until 11pm or midnight. I wrote during the day at work for my job, and I wrote at home at night. So all I did, for almost a year, was write! All three books were published. The memoir was a surprise bestseller, both in Europe and Australia. I still have the same work ethic today. You really have to like writing to be an author. Typing fast helps too.
What Have Been the Career Highlights?
I was a senior book editor for a year, at IMAGES Publishing (who still publish my books), and edited monographs for Massimo Vignelli and Marc Appleton, among other famous design names. Marc Appleton had designed homes for Barbra Streisand and many others. (I once plucked up the courage to ask him what Barbra was like, and he said “she was very funny”.) Massimo Vignelli was an Italian gentleman – incredibly famous in New York and Italy for both his work and his wit and style. Writing the biography of Joan Lindsay, author of the legendary Australian novel, Picnic at Hanging Rock, was a great privilege, although many curious things happened during the course of it. It was a real labour of love for all of us who worked on the project, from my beloved editor Julia Taylor to my wonderful designer Alissa Dinallo. None of us knew if the biography would be a success but we did it anyway, to pay tribute to a great Australian author, and a great Australian story. Photographing and writing Gardens of Style: Private Hideaways of the Design World for Rizzoli in New York was also an enormous privilege. We were fortunate that so many international designers allowed us into their private gardens. But boy – it took some hustle as well! My Manhattan editor was tough, but in the end I adored her: tough love is the best love an editor can give. And working for a New York publisher like Rizzoli was a dream come true, but oh – it almost killed me as well! New York can be a tough city. You have to grow a hide to survive. Sometimes I’d walk down Fifth Avenue and think: What is a girl from country Australia doing here? Then I'd straighten up and keep walking. New York will do that to you. It’s a great teacher.
Other Life Highlights?
Meeting Barnaba Fornasetti at his incredible Fornasetti-filled house in Milan was a real privilege. Liaising with Carolyne Roehm to shoot her Connecticut garden, and seeing it in full floraison was another shoot I'll always treasure. Flying to the Dominican Republic to shoot Celerie Kemble’s botanical hideaway (just before a hurricane hit) was also amazing. Seeing Gardens of Style: Private Hideaways of the Design World featured on New York Times’ Instagram, Tory Burch’s Instagram, Architectural Digest’s Instagram, Vogue, Harpers’ Bazaar and Conde Nast Traveler, among many other publications, was overwhelming, but wonderful too. It was a tribute to everybody who had been involved with this lovely project, from the owners to the head gardeners.
Favourite Hotels?
Blakes London is, I think, the best in the world. Their service is above and beyond – it's like staying with family. Castle Hill Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, has amazing service and design too. We had part of our honeymoon there, in one of their new beach houses, although the historical rooms are superb too. I’d like to stay in every Aman or Six Senses hotel in the world, but our frugal budget would never allow it. My dream is to stay in more Bill Bensley hotels – he creates dream destinations. We've been lucky enough to have stayed at the Park Hyatt in Siem Reap, Cambodia (the pink library / reception area was so beautiful), and hope to stay at his newest design, at Phu Quoc – an absolutely fantasy of a hotel. I would adore to stay at an Oliver Messel-designed house, too.
Favourite Destinations?
Portofino. Lake Como. Charleston in South Carolina. London. The Great Barrier Reef. And our new (interim) home, on the Mornington Peninsula.
Favourite books to do?
Garden books. Shooting gardens at first light is almost a spiritual experience. I will never tire of photographing gardens. It's such a joy and privilege.
What's next?
I'm having a short break after an intense few years. I want to get my health back. However, I'm working on a few ideas, including a beautiful biography about a famous fashion designer, and another garden book. I'm also excited to be running workshops. It will be nice to help others with their proposals and projects and see them succeed. It's long been a dream of mine to mentor others. It seems like the right time.
What is your Background?
I was born in country Victoria, in Australia, to two teachers. We grew up in the country, but I went to school in Melbourne. My father was very clever, he had a mathematician's mind, but he was also an adventurer who loved maps and travel. My mother was an adventurer, too; she used to take his maps and drag him off to the four corners of the Earth, on wonderful journeys through Patagonia, Alaska, the Arctic Circle, and many other places. They were born to be together. I have two older brothers, one of whom was in management at The Age newspaper for two decades, and the other is a project manager. I am married to a lovely man who works as a policy analyst in government, and does a bit of politics on the side. We have been together for a decade, but only married in 2018, in Central Park, New York City. (I was a reluctant bride.)
Where Have You Worked?
My first job was assistant to a famous magazine editor in Sydney, in 1990. She was terrifying. It was so stressful that I decided to resign and enroll in university to do a BA Degree in Media. After university, I moved to London. (I’d already lived in in Denmark, for a year, in 1986.) London in the mid-1990s was a glamorous, exhilarating place; full of energy and ambition and alcohol in equal measures. It was the early Tony Blair years. Everyone worked hard but had a wild time. I ended up marrying a man I met there, and stayed for many years. I worked as a publishing assistant for a book editor, then a journalist on a travel magazine. Part of my heart is still in London; I go back every year. I love Paris too, having spent a lot of time there, but London is special to me. My ex-husband and I returned to Australia to live and I worked as a journalist and columnist (Inside Melbourne magazine), before being headhunted to edit magazines (IPMG magazines). I also worked as a senior writer for Melbourne Magazine, and contributed to magazines such as Vogue Living (under Melbourne editor Helen Redmond), and the Sunday magazine in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age broadsheet newspapers. All these roles, and moves, weren’t unusual – at that time, journalism was so fast-paced; everybody wrote fast, and they also changed jobs frequently (and often moved interstate) in order to rise up the career ladder. It was the high-tide mark of media. Little did we know it would all change. Little did we know we were enjoying the glory days.
Why Did You Switch Careers and Move into Books?
All through the 1990s, journalists were anxious. The stress and deadlines were incredibly intense. My marriage broke up and then, when I became a magazine editor, I began working insane hours, so I began writing a novel to relieve the stress. It was chick-lit, and appalling. (My friend actually said: “This is an appalling novel”.) A literary agent was keen on it, but it was so awful I couldn't finish it. So I returned to writing a memoir I’d started while living in Europe. But the memoir was hard-going, too.
How Did You Get Your Big Break?
While I was working full time and writing the memoir at night and on weekends, I decided (irrationally) to do two coffee-table books on design. I found a kind publisher who was willing to listen to the proposals but who said: “I’m going on holidays tomorrow night: be here at 2PM tomorrow so we can discuss the projects at length”. So the next day I flew to Sydney, got a taxi to the North Shore, and when the taxi dropped me off at the wrong spot, hitched lift with a little old lady, with minutes to spare. I told the publisher the story of hitchhiking to the appointment, and she laughed, and I walked out of the meeting with a two-book deal. For the next eight months, I flew interstate on weekends to shoot the two books. On Monday mornings, I would drive to work at 6am, scan the trannies (slides), and then, after everyone had left at 5PM continue to work on the books, often until 11pm or midnight. I wrote during the day at work for my job, and I wrote at home at night. So all I did, for almost a year, was write! All three books were published. The memoir was a surprise bestseller, both in Europe and Australia. I still have the same work ethic today. You really have to like writing to be an author. Typing fast helps too.
What Have Been the Career Highlights?
I was a senior book editor for a year, at IMAGES Publishing (who still publish my books), and edited monographs for Massimo Vignelli and Marc Appleton, among other famous design names. Marc Appleton had designed homes for Barbra Streisand and many others. (I once plucked up the courage to ask him what Barbra was like, and he said “she was very funny”.) Massimo Vignelli was an Italian gentleman – incredibly famous in New York and Italy for both his work and his wit and style. Writing the biography of Joan Lindsay, author of the legendary Australian novel, Picnic at Hanging Rock, was a great privilege, although many curious things happened during the course of it. It was a real labour of love for all of us who worked on the project, from my beloved editor Julia Taylor to my wonderful designer Alissa Dinallo. None of us knew if the biography would be a success but we did it anyway, to pay tribute to a great Australian author, and a great Australian story. Photographing and writing Gardens of Style: Private Hideaways of the Design World for Rizzoli in New York was also an enormous privilege. We were fortunate that so many international designers allowed us into their private gardens. But boy – it took some hustle as well! My Manhattan editor was tough, but in the end I adored her: tough love is the best love an editor can give. And working for a New York publisher like Rizzoli was a dream come true, but oh – it almost killed me as well! New York can be a tough city. You have to grow a hide to survive. Sometimes I’d walk down Fifth Avenue and think: What is a girl from country Australia doing here? Then I'd straighten up and keep walking. New York will do that to you. It’s a great teacher.
Other Life Highlights?
Meeting Barnaba Fornasetti at his incredible Fornasetti-filled house in Milan was a real privilege. Liaising with Carolyne Roehm to shoot her Connecticut garden, and seeing it in full floraison was another shoot I'll always treasure. Flying to the Dominican Republic to shoot Celerie Kemble’s botanical hideaway (just before a hurricane hit) was also amazing. Seeing Gardens of Style: Private Hideaways of the Design World featured on New York Times’ Instagram, Tory Burch’s Instagram, Architectural Digest’s Instagram, Vogue, Harpers’ Bazaar and Conde Nast Traveler, among many other publications, was overwhelming, but wonderful too. It was a tribute to everybody who had been involved with this lovely project, from the owners to the head gardeners.
Favourite Hotels?
Blakes London is, I think, the best in the world. Their service is above and beyond – it's like staying with family. Castle Hill Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, has amazing service and design too. We had part of our honeymoon there, in one of their new beach houses, although the historical rooms are superb too. I’d like to stay in every Aman or Six Senses hotel in the world, but our frugal budget would never allow it. My dream is to stay in more Bill Bensley hotels – he creates dream destinations. We've been lucky enough to have stayed at the Park Hyatt in Siem Reap, Cambodia (the pink library / reception area was so beautiful), and hope to stay at his newest design, at Phu Quoc – an absolutely fantasy of a hotel. I would adore to stay at an Oliver Messel-designed house, too.
Favourite Destinations?
Portofino. Lake Como. Charleston in South Carolina. London. The Great Barrier Reef. And our new (interim) home, on the Mornington Peninsula.
Favourite books to do?
Garden books. Shooting gardens at first light is almost a spiritual experience. I will never tire of photographing gardens. It's such a joy and privilege.
What's next?
I'm having a short break after an intense few years. I want to get my health back. However, I'm working on a few ideas, including a beautiful biography about a famous fashion designer, and another garden book. I'm also excited to be running workshops. It will be nice to help others with their proposals and projects and see them succeed. It's long been a dream of mine to mentor others. It seems like the right time.
