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Hello, I'm Jean Louise Allen.
I’ve been interested in writing since I won two awards. In my sixth form year (year 11) I won a Queen Elizabeth 1st sixpence for English essay. Many years later, when I had time to write again, I won a Katherine Mansfield Bank of New Zealand Novice Award for a short story called ‘The Flatty’. On the Kaipara a flatty is a flat bottomed dinghy which a rower can skim over mudflats or use in deep water.
Being a trained teacher made it easy for me to return to part time work once our children were old enough. Some other jobs were interesting. I did a few radio plays, a small film paid for a secondhand car (loved that little orange volkswagon!) I also did a bit of advertising work as well – a family TV advertisement gave us enough money to have a summer holiday that year. I've been a shop assistant, factory hand, and even gave a manure factory job a go. All had their allure (or not) in my past. I write historical fiction now, except for my children’s fun-verse books and – well, I won’t ramble on.
I call writing ‘my retirement career’ and I love it. For some years I simply wrote and wrote and wrote. Now I’m working through editing and publishing four of my New Zealand Historical Fiction collection as well as writing a series of little books for young children.
I enjoy entertaining people.
I hope you try my work.