Belinda grew up in a small harbour town in New Zealand: a glorious place to be a child. She shared a pony with her sisters, and spent most of her time reading, riding, and playing on the beach at the bottom of their road. (Even now, tidal water still tugs at her imagination.) Career-wise, Belinda has enjoyed different combinations of children and books - as a teacher, a librarian, a book publisher, and now as an almost-full-time writer. She has lived in Beirut, Melbourne, and on the south coast in England, but now she mostly divides her time between London and Key West (in Florida). The Truth about Josie Green marks Belinda's fiction debut. It tells the story of Josie, who just does not get on with her older sister - she can't believe they are actually related, they're so different. Then she overhears a conversation between her mum and her mum's best friend, which provokes all sorts of questions. Who can she trust to tell her the truth? Josie sets out to do with some detective work of her own, with some surprising results!

River Song is Belinda's second novel for Orchard Books, coming in June 2007. This is a charming first-person narrative, set in New Zealand and beautifully threaded with Maori culture. The story follows Jessye, a girl whose tumultuous life flits between her grandmother and her mother, as she struggles to make sense of her family past and the secrets that lurk beneath the surface of all their lives.

Belinda lives in Primrose Hill, North London, with her partner, Bruce.

Bibliography
Riversong
The Truth About Josie Green

Copyright © 2006: The Watts Publishing Group.