I was born in 1949 in what was then a Dutch Colony, now called Indonesia. At the age of two, my family moved back to the northwest of The Netherlands. I grew up there in the seaside town of IJmuiden (yes, it's impossible to pronounce for non-Dutch speakers).

During my adolescence, I attended ballet classes in Amsterdam. This was in preparation for a full-time, 3rd level professional training. In my 4th and final year of the professional training, my mother died. My father remarried within months, and I abandoned the life I had known until then. I worked in youth hostels in Amsterdam and Athens and I spent some months working in a kibbutz in Israel. Eventually, in 1973, I ended up in Ireland where I married Brian, the father of my two children.

These were the hippie years. And in Ireland they were the anti-nuclear-energy movement years. As members of Friends of the Earth, and running a small wind energy company, Brian and I were active, both in the anti-nuclear campaign and in the Solar Energy Society of Ireland. I worked for Enterprise Ireland's Technology Ireland magazine for some time, writing on Solar Energy Technologies.

Later, when my children were in their teens, I worked with the Earth Education Institute, teaching the ecological principles of life to primary school kids. I also ran my own ballet school, and I taught dance and mime in a number of primary schools. It's from this time that some of my children's stories originate.

Of great influence in those years were the thoughts of Carl G. Jung, especially his analysis of dreams. I also explored the books by Lynn van Andrews and Clarissa Pinkola Estés. At that time I was unaware of the fact that these women writers actually wrote about shamanism; their thoughts, however, greatly helped me explore and develop my own inner landscape. In this period, I also read all the books I could find on the evolution of the cosmos, our solar system and planet, life on earth, and our own human evolution. I began writing poetry and this body of work basically shaped my spiritual direction (these poems are not published).

But I mustn’t forget the Irish influence on my life and work. The early Irish years, in particular, offered me a glimpse of a different, older culture than the one I had experienced hitherto. Part of that older culture was its music. My friends would sit on the couch in my living room of an afternoon or evening, and sing their hearts out. They sang Irish songs and ballads and I was choked with emotion listening to them. These friends had been schooled by 'the nuns' and that meant that they sang like angels. Mixed parties or gatherings could also easily lead to singing or set dancing. The men in those days sang rowdy rebel songs. 'The Troubles' in the north were in full swing and many southern men felt that they had a stake in that northern struggle. As for the dancing, no matter how small the room, the table and chairs would be shoved aside to make way for the circle of dancers. Then there was the racy Irish music up and down the country and everywhere. This included the magnificent Irish drum and the often piercing sounds of the tin whistle. Outside of these particularly Irish influences, my friends and I joined a women's conscious raising group as well as a women's self-help group. These groups helped us focus on, and explore, our female nature and needs. All in all, these were the fertile early years in Ireland. As in all of life, fertile years are usually followed by years of drought, but the learning and deepening kept coming in waves. Currently, while living in The Netherlands again, the highlight of my year is the Wise Woman Weekend, held in a different county in Ireland every summer. And if, on one of my visits to my children, I can join into a walk & chant women's outing, I'm the happiest woman alive.

After 26 years in Ireland, I moved back to The Netherlands (in the year 2000). Following up on my interest in Qi Gong, I began the study of Chinese Medicine. However, instead of Qi Gong, I specialised in the fascinating and highly relevant subject of nutrition. But with my new partner, Jim, I also became involved in the struggle against factory farming, which is very big here in the south of The Netherlands. Initially, my concern was with animal exploitation and suffering, but, by and by, I learned about the disastrous impact of this industry on the environment, biodiversity, human health and climate. I ended up writing regular opinion pieces about the politics and effects of factory farming in the local press. Jim and I also invested in solar panels and became members of a wind energy cooperation. And we base our meals around vegetables, with some grains and very little animal products. We avoid industrially made 'foods', preferring mostly locally produced organic whole foods.

These, in a nutshell, are the influences that went into the books displayed on this website. They were written and published towards the end of a lifetime, in the years between 2009 and 2015.