Sounds like I was raised by gypsies, doesn't it? I was even almost born in a tent -Mum, Dad and 3 children were camping and one day mum left the tent and went to hospital to have me. I am in the second front row, in the middle, to the right of the girl in the dark tunic. This is me and my classmates in Scotland. We travelled through Europe in a caravan and I'd swum most of the famous rivers in Europe by the time I was eight. I've lived in Scotland, Malaysia and Greece.

We spent a lot of time driving from one part of Australia to another, visiting relatives or friends or simply to see what was there. Travel was also a big part of my childhood. Luckily our house was always full of them. For most of my childhood we didn't have TV, so books have always been a big part of my life.

Once I learned to read, I spent my days outside playing with the animals (I include my brother and 2 sisters here) and when inside I read. Somehow, we were always warm, clean, well fed and happy. I don't know how my mother managed, really, because both she and Dad taught full time, but she came home and cooked on a wood stove and did all the laundry by hand, boiling the clothes and sheets in a big copper kettle. The horse period was a time when my parents entered a 'let's-be-self-sufficient' phase, so we had a horse, but no electricity and all our water came from the rain tank.Īs well as the horse and dogs, we had 2 cows (Buttercup and Daisy and one of them always had a calf), a sheep (Woolly,) goats (Billy and Nanny) dozens of ducks, chooks, and a couple of geese, a pet bluetongue lizard and a huge vegie patch. In case you imagine we were a filthy rich horse-owning family, let me assure you we weren't. I have to say, dogs and horses are great audiences, apart from their tendency to drool occasionally. Family legend has it that I used to spend hours playing in the sand pit, with a dog on either side of me and Rocka the horse leaning over me, his head just touching my shoulder, while I told them stories.

She lives in Melbourne, Victoria.I've always loved stories. Her books have been shortlisted for the RITA Award and she has twice won the Australian Romance Writer of the Year award and National Readers Choice Award (USA). Anne Gracie is an Australian author of historical romance novels.

The Stolen Princess by Anne Gracie