Graduating with a Master of Letters (Creative Writing) from Central Queensland University, Stephanie went the way of all arts students by getting a desk job that has absolutely nothing to do with her university studies and living a largely unfulfilled working life. To lessen the pain she eats a lot of chocolate and redirects all her calls to her administrative team.

To add insult to injury she went and got a Masters of Strength and Conditioning which she only uses when writing exercise programs for her friends, and which she will probably still be paying off in ten years time.

She currently resides much further from the beach than she’d like, and released three books in 2012. Her first two books, The Veggie Patch and The Memory, were in the fiction genre, while her third book, I’m Not Shaving My Legs For This, is a collection of personal essays about her love, dating and relationship mishaps. All three are now available on Amazon. Thankfully her friends and ex-boyfriends continue to let her use them as inspiration and as yet there have been no lawsuits.

Her friends have recently stopped referring to her as ‘Bridget’ and now instead refer to her as ‘Penny Hartz’. 

Her father once wisely said to her, “If a man sticks around for 6 months, you just marry him, Stephie.” Years of therapy seem to have helped her through this. In truth, when she does fall, those rare occasions where she lets her guard down, she falls hard. As a result her heart has been bruised a little more than most, but with blind optimism she refuses to give up on the magical idea that true love and soulmates really do exist. Though naive, she fully believes that there is gold in everyone if you look hard enough and is still hopelessly convinced that everyone can change for the better if you just give them the chance. 

A writer, strength & conditioning coach, runner, girly girl, crossfit gumby, and dork in every sense; at least nothing in her world is ever boring…

Stephanie’s next collection of personal essays, Chew Like Hell, is due out in July 2013. For more of her random thoughts she can be found on Twitter @stephielou82