In a nutshell:

I am a lecturer in communication in the School of Design, Communication, and Information Technology, at the University of Newcastle, Australia, where I specialise in public relations education and research. I authored Australia’s first book on careers in public relations and have also published a book on careers in government. I've won state and national awards for national public relations campaigns and am a member of the Public Relations Institute of Australia. My career spans feature writing for national newspapers and magazines as well as senior public relations roles in health, government and the financial services sectors. My novel was a finalist in the The Australian/Vogel Award, in 1996. I've published a few academic papers, some of which are available online:

• A review paper on the Impact of new media on PR (2007/8 Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal) - Read it here
• An investigation of using blogging as an assessment tool in a PR course (2008 PRism online journal) - Read it here

I'm married to a wonderful artist, Stephen James, who manages the Hunter Valley Arthouse @ The Branxton Inn, (http://www.huntervalleyart.com.au) - it's where people come to learn to get in touch with their creative sides, to paint and draw, to learn (from beginners to masterclass) and generally have some of the best times available in the Hunter. Drop in if you're in the Hunter Valley!

I am a mum to two teenagers - a daughter, Alex, who manages the innovative site www.youngpoetess.com and a son, Patrick, who has a dark and mysterious MySpace page somewhere in the universe.