About Darlene

Where was I born? I was born in Alberta, Canada. I have three older sisters and one younger one. Even though she's quite old now, we all still call her the baby! All of my sister's first names begin with the letter D- Debbie, Dorothy, Diana, Darlene, and Denise. But to make it even more tricky, our middle names all start with E - Ellen, Elaine, Elizabeth, Elma, and Eleonor. Before we were all married our last name was Young, so you can imagine how we all fought over any mail delivered to our house, addressed to Miss D E Young. (yes, mail used to come in the box, not on the computer) But having the same initials came in handy sometimes too, like when our Mum got annoyed at us. She would shout DDDD, and by the time she worked out which one she was angry at she forgot what she was angry about. We often wondered if we had a brother, what his name might have been? David Elfonso, Dylan Elwood? What do you think?

Where do I live now? I live in beautiful Lake Hawea, in Central Otago, but before moving here I used to live in Ocean View, Dunedin.

Do you have any kids? Yes, I have two boys, and now each of my boys have two of their own children, so I am lucky enough to be a grandmother to two girls and two boys.

When did you start writing? I think I've always written things- beginning with lists! When I was in high-school, I joined a creative writing group and that's where I really got hooked. But I didn't start writing children's stories until my boys were teenagers. There used to be a school magazine called the NZ School Journal and the equivalent in Australia was called the Australian School Magazine. I wrote many stories, poems and plays for those magazines- see the pictures on the home page. I wrote my first novel in 2003, but it is still sitting in a box on my shelf.

Where do you get your ideas? I get them everywhere and anywhere. My story about taniwhas (in a school journal) came about by watching a large piece of driftwood being moved along the sand by waves. My story about Edge Slumps (in a school journal) came from a strange sign on the side of the road reading 'Watch for Edge Slumps'. When I was little, we had to travel the width of Canada to visit my own grandparents. It took 5 days of driving and to make the time go faster my Dad used to read the road signs and make up stories about them, and I've done the same thing ever since. In my novel (still to be published) called Licorice Allsorts, I was paddle boarding and saw bubbles coming up from the bottom of the lake and it made me wonder what was down there. When I was playing Sudoku one day, (like I do every day) my husband said, "One day you'll get lost in Sudoku", so that's how Kahu came to be lost. Some things my naughty big sister Dorothy, did and said to me when I was young have also given me many ideas- like when she told me watermelons would grow inside me and the vines would grow out of my ears, mouth, nose and eyes- if I ever swallowed a seed, or when she told me I was a junior vampire because my canine teeth were sharp, or when she licked a frozen gate in the winter to find out what it tasted like. Her tongue stuck to it!

Sometimes I worry my ideas will dry up and then, bang! something flicks a switch in my brain, like my latest novel- Charlie Seaton- Junior Agent. I got that idea by watching my talented granddaughter swinging on the monkey bars, like a circus performer.

What other jobs have you had? I have been a teacher, teaching children from as young as five years old, to adults who are learning to speak and read English. I have been an event coordinator, a volunteer coordinator and an activity coordinator for the elderly. But my most important job is being a Mum and Grandmother.

Would you come to our school and talk to us? If I am ever near where you live, I would like that very much.

What do you do when you're not writing? I love to be outside having fun. I walk my dog Abby, every day. I go bike riding a lot. In the summer I love to go swimming in the lake and paddle boarding or kayaking. In the winter I love to go where the snow is and go cross-country skiing or snow shoeing. I also make mosaics.