Hi I’m Mel (aka M A Shieldhouse)…

…and I write children’s books.  As a mother of two young and cheeky monkeys, I’m an expert at sneaking vegetables into things and secretly removing the batteries from noisy toys.

I grew up in England but, these days I call the Sunshine Coast my home.  In 2002, unable to stand the weather any longer, I moved to Australia to study Naturopathy.  I made my home in the Blue Mountains which, it turned out, had even worse weather.

My next move was much more successful, meteorologically speaking.  My partner and I spent almost two years in Phuket, Thailand.  We worked, had Thai massages, tried deep-fried crickets and had a baby.  After that we came back to Oz.

Several years on, I’m living on the beautiful Sunshine Coast Hinterland with my hubby, two kids, chickens and a guinea pig.

I barely find the time to write but when I do, I write picture books inspired by my own children; middle-grade fiction and I have a YA novel in the works too.  

I also provide copywriting and proofreading services for entrepreneurs, website designers and other professionals.