My name is Helen Weiss. I was born in Sydney Australia in 1959. I had an uneventful upbringing, all the good bits coming after I left school at 15.
I tried Seven Hill Art College after we moved to the Gold Coast in 1976. I gave up after 1 year and my father sent me to Surfers Paradise with “Don’t come home without a job.” I came home with an apprenticeship in Hairdressing where I threw my arty nature at it with a passion. Working all day and clubbing till the wee hours I had a blast. I became an award-winning operator and opened 3 different salons over time.
I married and had two gorgeous girls, now in their fabulous 30’s. My last salon was a makeover studio with my then husband as a photographer, and me managing 12 staff, hairdressers, make-up artists and photographers. I sold in 1996 and worked as a photographic negative and print retoucher. Fairweather came to me at 1am on January 9 th , 2000. I began to write as a cat, not knowing where the idea came from. It was just there. I decided the next day that if I was going to write that story, as a cat, I had best research the facts to make it historically accurate. My social life went begging for 5 years while I spent every spare minute to bring Fairweather to life.
I remarried in 2006. A wonderful man who encouraged me to finish Fairweather of the Bark Endeavour. I swear he has read it at least 3 times, and has overseen the illustrations for anatomical correctness. Definitely a keeper! Here I am in the throes of publishing and I can’t wait for my public to enjoy this book as much as I loved writing it.