My Story

I was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia in the 1950s, the youngest of four children and raised on a cattle property. For more than twenty years, I was involved in the magazine publishing industry as a senior executive.

   Having now given up full time magazine work, I am devoting my time to my writing career, with an emphasis on writing books to entertain women readers.

   My stories draw heavily on my early experiences of country life and then, later, my experience of living in Sydney, which is my favourite Australian city.

   My husband and I lived in America (Maryland) for a year when he was posted to the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC. I was pleased to be able to bring some of my knowledge of American life to the page. Check under the Author Q&A if you are interested in understanding some of the background featured in my books.

   To date I have published five books, Julia’s Story, To Love, Honour and Betray, Return to Prior Park and, Heirs and Successors (2023) and its companion title First Born Son (2023).

  I value my membership of the Queensland Writers Centre (QWC) and the Australian Society of Authors (ASA). I've completed a Year of the Novel course with QWC and a short fiction writing course with noted literary agency Curtis Brown.

   I now live on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast with my husband Peter, having called various places home over the years including Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane.

   I enjoy hearing feedback from readers. You can email be via this link jmarymasters1@gmail.com

I hope you enjoy reading the books I have written. If you do, please tell your friends. I write simply to entertain. And I write the Belleville books because I love the characters I've created. I hope you do too.

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