Gardner, Scot 1968-

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GARDNER, Scot 1968-

PERSONAL: Born August 16, 1968, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; son of James (a drafter) and Joan (a diversional therapist; maiden name, Sloan) Gardner; married Robyn Grant (a natural therapist), June 2, 1995; children: Jennifer Ellen, Michelle Anne, Bryce James. Ethnicity: "Australian." Education: Holmsglen Tafe, gardening certificate, 1990; Melbourne School of Massage and Physical Culture, therapeutic massage certificate, 1997; Victorian School of Hypnotic Science, postgraduate diploma in psychotherapy, 1999. Politics: "Greens." Religion: "Pantheist." Hobbies and other interests: Nature photography, camping, riding mountain bikes, sailing, flying aircraft, stone sculpture, "building with earth."

ADDRESSES: Home—Yinnar South, Victoria, Australia. Office—Karijan Enterprises, P.O. Box 8, Churchill, Victoria 3842, Australia. Agent—Pippa Masson, Curtis Brown Australia, P.O. Box 19, Paddington, New South Wales 2021, Australia. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Morwell City Council, Morwell, Victoria, Australia, apprentice gardener, 1986-90; self-employed landscape gardener in Morwell, 1990-97; selfemployed therapeutic masseur in Morwell, 1997-2000; freelance writer, 2000—. Victorian Writers' Centre, member, 2002—.

MEMBER: Australian Society of Authors.

WRITINGS:

One Dead Seagull (young-adult fiction), Pan Macmillan Australia (Sydney, Australia), 2001.

White Ute Dreaming (young-adult fiction), Pan Macmillan Australia (Sydney, Australia), 2002.

Burning Eddy (young-adultfiction), Pan Macmillan Australia (Sydney, Australia), 2003.

Contributor to Earth Garden.

WORK IN PROGRESS: The Other Madonna, young-adult fiction, for Pan Macmillan Australia, completion expected in 2004; The Legend of Kevin the Plumber, general fiction, for Pan Macmillan Australia, 2005; The Chainsaw Prince, general fiction, for Pan Macmillan Australia, 2006.

SIDELIGHTS: Australian author Scott Gardner's One Dead Seagull, which Helen Purdie of Magpies called a "promising first novel," focuses on two boys who go head-to-head with some school bullies while coming to terms with personal tragedy, problems at school and at home, and confusing situations involving the opposite sex. As Gardner noted on his Web site: "I wrote parts of One Dead Seagull at Tarra Bulga National Park. Parts of the sequel, [White Utne Dreaming,] were written by gaslight in the Outback. The tools of the trade are simple—for me it's a pen and paper for the first draft then I take all the papers and stuff them into my computer. The technicians at Compaq said that 'damage caused by inserting hand-written manuscripts into a CD drive is not covered under warranty.'" As a result—and fortunately for fans of his books—Gardner has since learned how to type.