Mary-Anne Grosse Ivie was born in Singapore, the second youngest of five children. Her favourite childhood authors were Enid Blyton (but of course!), Carolyn Keene (The Nancy Drew Mysteries), Franklin W. Dixon (the Hardy Boys series which belonged to one of her older brothers) -- and it didn't even bother her that much when it was later discovered that Keene and Dixon were pseudonyms for a variety of authors -- and Agatha Christie. As she had a special fondness for animals, especially dogs, the list later included James Herriott for his wonderful stories about his life as a veterinarian, Jerome K. Jerome (for his delightfully funny "Three Men in a Boat"), Jane Austen, Rosamunde Pilcher, Amy Tan, among others, as well as books about classical ballet and biographies of ballet dancers and choreographers. She also enjoyed the works of John Powell, Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton and other religious writers.

Mary-Anne's childhood dream was to one day be an author and her teen years were filled with writing stories (which her cousins read) and creating her own monthly magazines with a typewriter, typing paper, coloured pencils, pictures cut out from magazines, glue and a stapler. All very amateurish, of course, but the interest was definitely there.

Her dream came true in her early twenties when her short story, Just Tell Me You Love Me, was published in a women's magazine in Singapore. Shyness still prevailed so she wrote it under a pen name, Petra Nels. Over the years, she continued composing her poems and writing her stories on the side.

Life, with its twists and turns, sometimes has a strange way of bringing us away from what we love, and know, best. Twenty years later, she comes back full circle to her first love: writing.

Now that she and her husband live in a small wooded community in Northern California, nature itself is sometimes inspiration enough. They share their home with two dogs who know how to love and protect and a very independent cat who just wants to be friends with the dogs.

There is a hint of truth in each of her stories. The Fairy Folk and She is her first book, a story for the young and young at heart. It was a delight to write as there were all these characters -- and their voices -- inside her head. And to find out more about them, she had to tell their story.



The Fairy Folk and She: A Tale of Friendship and Love
ISBN: 1-4137-9291-X