Short Bio
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A.J. Betts is a Fremantle-based author, speaker, teacher, columnist and cyclist. Her latest work is a contemporary young-adult novel called ONE SONG, about a teenage band trying to record a song to enter into the prestigious Triple J Unearthed High competition. Her earlier books include the two-book speculative fiction series comprising HIVE and ROGUE, ZAC & MIA (which was adapted into an Emmy Award-winning Hollywood television series), WAVELENGTH and SHUTTERSPEED. In 2019, A.J. was awarded a PhD on the topic of wonder (Edith Cowan University), and won the inaugural Western Australian Premier's Fellowship. A.J. has worked in secondary schools as a teacher for over twenty years, and has also taught creative writing in universities. She is originally from Queensland but has lived in Western Australia since 2004.
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Longer Bio
Childhood
I grew up in Far North Queensland (Tully, then Innisfail). I loved to read and was transfixed by stories of dragons, kings, and faraway places. I became obsessed with Little Golden Books, Sesame Street books, and Mr Men. Of course, bikes and Tonka Trucks were also appealing.
I was the kind of kid who would re-read favourite books. I loved Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton, LM Montgomery, Johanna Spyri and later, Sue Townsend, Robin Klein and Douglas Adams. I went through a fantasy phase and a Spike Milligan phase - whatever I could find in the Innisfail Library, really - and discovered I had a knack for writing quirky poems and stories.
I was the kind of kid who would re-read favourite books. I loved Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton, LM Montgomery, Johanna Spyri and later, Sue Townsend, Robin Klein and Douglas Adams. I went through a fantasy phase and a Spike Milligan phase - whatever I could find in the Innisfail Library, really - and discovered I had a knack for writing quirky poems and stories.
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And then
After school and uni, I spent a few years teaching in Brisbane then travelled the world with a backpack and a camera. In 2004 I finally returned to Australia, then proceeded to drive across it. I based myself in Perth where I finished writing ShutterSpeed, published by Fremantle Press in 2008. Wavelength was published in 2010, and Zac & Mia in 2013. I’ve written lots of poems and articles on various subjects. A story about my grandfather was published in the gorgeous book Lines of Wisdom by Affirm Press in 2008. I've presented talks on cycling (Women of Letters) and creativity (TEDx Hale). What else? When I'm not writing, reading or speaking, I try to get outside on one of my five bikes, or take my dog to the river or beach. I love travel, films, books, music, podcasts and being in nature. |
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