mmg.com.au

Author Anne Smith has lived in the Benalla area since 1970, having moved to Lima East 33 years ago with her husband Trevor and their children.

Anne, writing under her maiden name of Marguerite Turnley, has recently had three children’s books published by Xlibris and says all three stories are partly true and partly her ‘‘weird imagination’’.

Scrappy and Taffy, Lost and Found; It’s Raining Cats and Frog; and Feathered Chaos are her most recent books.

Anne is multi-talented, drawing pictures for the stories and painting landscapes. After suffering a number of serious health issues over the years, Anne says her artistic hobbies allow her to tune out and focus on other things.

‘‘I don’t have to focus on the inner turmoil — if your hands are busy and your mind is busy too, the rest of it just floats away,’’ she said.

Anne loves life on her six-acre block in country Victoria where she has dogs and cats, and kookaburras and koalas in the trees. Her best help in ‘‘surviving out in the wild’’ is her husband Trevor who loves the bush and animals in the same way.

She had two novels published about 12 years ago, with the Ensign doing a story on the second book, Firewalking, which was published in the United States.

Anne’s first book was called Primal Man, and was published in Australia.

All her children’s books are coming out as ebooks, as well as hardcovers, and are available from Xlibris at www.xlibris.com.au or at selected book stores.

Anne is a member of Benalla Regional Writers, which meets every second Friday of the month at Waminda House from 2pm to 4pm. Cost is $2.50 per meeting. Contact Anne on 57682473 for further information.