Julie Murphy

Australian children's writer, zoologist and former zookeeper 

Hi!   Welcome to my web page.  Please take a minute to look around. I hope you find something to interest or inspire you – or perhaps both!

 
About me

I have been interested in writing and animals for as long as I can remember.  When I left school it was crunch time - I had to decide on a career path.  I chose to pursue my interest in animals, and focused on studying zoology at university (although I did enjoy the odd opportunity to write essays).  When I finished my post-graduate studies, I faced the ugly reality that long-term jobs in zoology were few and far between.   I took a side-step into the fascinating world of zookeeping. This kept me busy for ten years.  

On the home front, I was always saving up for backpacking trips overseas with my partner. We usually headed off somewhere every few years.  We have been very fortunate to have visited parts of Africa, Asia, South America, Europe and, of course, Australia.  We always travel independently for as long as we can - sometimes 3 or 4 months - which allows us to get a real 'feel' for a place.  Now we are older and with a preschooler, our mode of travel has become considerably more comfortable.  In 2007 we spent 14 weeks towing a camper-trailer around outback Australia.  It was a bit different from sharing the back of a truck with 23 South Americans...but there were a few similarities!

More than ten years ago, I changed to part-time employment so as to devote more time to the persistent urge to write.  But a happy event intervened and, after a two-year hiatus dedicated exclusively to my growing family, I now manage to write from home in treasured snatches of time amidst the full-time caring for my amazing, bewildering, fascinating and sometimes infuriating preschool daughter.

My published work began with scientific papers, branched out to non-fiction magazine articles for children and adults, and has finally settled in the wonderful world of children’s literature.  This includes the publication of books (fiction and non fiction), articles, verse and assorted other bits and pieces.  Along the way there has been an article for a zoo encyclopedia and an instructional manual to teach children how to breed stick insects!

So I have ended up combining my initial two interests - writing and animals - with my newest big love and pre-occupation, my daughter.  I have become a children's writer specialising in animals and nature-related topics, who gets most of my inspiration from observing my daughter! What are my plans and dreams for the future? To continue to write for children...and have more of it published! Most of my work right now is in the Education field, but I am also working on cracking the Trade market. Current works-in-progress include animal-related non-fiction books for junior primary school children (more on that later in the year), a Teachers book for the same series and several picture story book manuscripts.

I live in Melbourne, Australia, with my husband and daughter.

It has been nice to meet you! Thanks for visiting me. I hope to see you again some time in the future!

Best wishes, Julie.