I write books for children and young adults. I love it! But I also love animation. Years ago I entered the world of animation and produced a series of stop-motion shorts which I wrote and directed myself. In between having children and going back to school to pursue an MFA in writing with the Vermont College of Fine Arts, I pretty much forgot about it. That is until I reconnected with my wonderful friend, Joe Pistorius, who is a Creative Producer (among many hats he wears) in Cape Town. That was in 2022 and since then, we have created a slate of animation programmes which we’re looking forward to being produced soon.

Last year I learned about Women In Animation. Their vision is to bring together the global animation community to empower and advocate for people of underrepresented gender identities in the art, technology, production, and business of animation, inspiring excellence and justice in all facets of the industry.

Sounds like a mouthful I know but I identified with their values and applied for their mentorship programme. Miraculously I got in! We started in October of 2022 and I had the privilege of being mentored by Eric Homan who is well known for his work at Frederator among other things. In my circle were five other women from different continents. It’s a wonder that we were able to meet considering all our different time zones! I had a great time working on my animation series, SIMI AND THE DUST JACKETS adapted from my middle grade novel which I currently have on submission. I was sad when the mentorship came to an end in February. But the work continues. I am currently working on scripting a pilot for the series and am rather excited about it.