 BOOKS
In recent years I have been developing a career as a ghost writer. This began with the story of Aaron Cohen, who was convicted of smuggling heroin in Malaysia, jailed and caned. Subsequent subjects include a teen soprano, a war hero and an actor.
Ghost writing is a unique and challenging skill. Every subject has been a remarkable individual with a great story to tell, and I have relished the challenge of getting to know them in depth - and quickly - and conveying their stories from their perspective. Most have been surprised to find out what good reading their lives could make.
If you are looking for a writer to tell your story or on behalf of someone else, I would be pleased to hear from you.
My books are:
 Arrested Development: The Aaron Cohen Story (Random House, 2000)
At eight he was smuggling heroin out of the house when his parents were raided. At 15 he was using heroin every day. At 17 he was earning $1200 a week selling cocaine. At 18 he was sentenced to life in Penang Prison plus six strokes of the cane for drug trafficking. At 29 he was pardoned and his life began. The Aaron Cohen case made international headlines. But his personal story is revealed here for the first time. The son of Kings Cross drug dealers, he was well fed, well clothed and loved, but he was also tormented and terrified by his family's lifestyle. Only in a Malaysian jail did the cosseted teenager learn the hard way how to look after himself while the corrupt guards and administrators allowed him to feed his heroin addiction. On his release in 1996, Aaron Cohen began a long adjustment to a life he had never known. This book provides a rare insight into a dangerous and often misunderstood world.
 Hayley Westenra: The World at Her Feet (Penguin, 2004)
This is the heart-warming story of the spectacular rise to fame of teenage singing sensation Hayley Westenra, who has sold over a million copies worldwide of her album Pure.
Hayley Westenra is unstoppable. Pure was the best-selling debut album in the history of the UK classical charts and has set numerous sales records in New Zealand. She has performed at London's Royal Albert Hall, the Sydney Opera House and New York's Carnegie Hall; she has sung with top classical artists such as Jose Carreras, Bryn Terfel and Russell Watson; she has performed in front of the British royal family, George W. Bush and Tony Blair; and composers such as Andrew Lloyd Webber have asked to write for her.
The World at Her Feet provides a fascinating insight into the workings of the global music industry and shows how old-fashioned Kiwi virtues and family values can make dreams come true.
 Willie Apiata VC: The Reluctant Hero (Penguin, 2008)
Lance Corporal Willie Apiata, a New Zealand Special Air Service trooper, trapped at the front of a major fire-fight with suspected Taliban insurgents on a dark and desolate Afghan hilltop. One of his mates was bleeding to death and the other was pinned down under intense enemy fire. For Apiata there was no choice. He fell back on the values instilled in him by his mother, the skills learnt during a tough pig-hunting life in the bush on the East Coast of New Zealand, and the knowledge won from years of training with the NZSAS.
With the lives and safety of his mates his only priority, Apiata performed an act of courage that has now become part of New Zealand history; an act that saw him become the first recipient of the Victoria Cross for New Zealand and just the 14th holder of the Commonwealth's highest honour for bravery since the end of the Second World War. Willie Apiata, VC, an ordinary kiwi bloke, a very reluctant hero, just doing his job. Willie Apiata VC was the biggest selling New Zealand book in the year of its publication. The junior edition, co-authored with John Lockyer was a finalist in the non-fiction section of the 2010 New Zealand Children's Book awards.
 Temuera Morrison: From Haka to Hollywood (Penguin, 2009)
Temuera Morrison was a local television heartthrob, appearing on our screens weekly in Shortland Street when he gained international attention for his portrayal of the abusive and alcoholic Jake in Once Were Warriors. No one thought he would actually pull it off, and yet now we can't imagine anyone else as Jake the Muss! Morrison's vivid performance in Warriors took him to Hollywood, where he went on to a number of high profile action roles. He landed his biggest hit in 2002, when he was cast as Jango Fett in the eagerly anticipated Star Wars: Episode Two - Attack of the Clones. The son of a musician and nephew of famed New Zealand entertainer Sir Howard Morrison, Temuera Morrison was raised in the rural backblocks of Rotorua. In Temuera Morrison: From Haka to Hollywood, he talks about these humble beginnings, his relationships, trauma at the death of his father and most recently the sudden death of his sister. He shares stories of his time in Hollywood and how his heritage is an important part of his life.
Ray Avery: Rebel with a Cause (Random House 2010)
Ray Avery was the 2010 New Zealander of the Year. A scientist, entrepreneur and humanitarian, English-born Avery is also the survivor of a childhood of Dickensian cruelty. After his mother beat him unconscious, he was taken into care and shuttled through a series of foster homes before escaping and living for the best part of a year under a bridge in a London park when he was just 12 years old. From this unpromising start he went on to build a multi-million dollar business before finding redemption when he encountered Fred Hollows and took over his work treating cataract blindness when Hollows died. A hard-hitting critic of established development agencies and policies, he has gone on to create and produce more life-saving products for the developing world, as well as finding true love in his mid-fifties.
 Think Bigger: How to Raise Your Expectations and Achieve Everything (Random House, 2010) Michael Hill is the inspirational business leader who took the challenge of a fire that wiped out nearly everything he owned at the age of 40 and turned it on its head to build a multi-million dollar jewellery business from next to nothing. In his new book, Michael explains how his holistic apprach to setting and achieving goals has got him where he is today. This is a man who at the age of 70 has set 30-year goals for himself. The book is a combination self-help manual and business guidebook divided into three parts: Work, Life and Balance. It has easy to follow advice on how to improve your brain power, maintain peak health, plan for financial success and incorporate every aspect of life into a fulfilling whole for individuals and their families, anywhere and at any age.
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