Jaci Cox

Jaci Cox is a writer from north-west Sydney, Australia. She is married, and the mother to three gorgeous children.

Jaci discovered a love for writing when she was in Year 5, in Mr Gillis' class. She didn't know what to do with this 'passion' then, as 'Success' was embodied in 'engineers' and 'doctos' or even 'accountants' when she was growing up. She wrote stories in secret, in exercise books, in between doing assignments and after lights-out. She finished her first novel (about a girl who falls in love with her new step-brother) when she was about thirteen; but for fear that her story was too controversial and might get her in trouble with Mum and Dad, she tore up the exercise book into irrepairable shreds. Just as well, it probably was not very good anyway. . .Or it might have been, and she'll regret it forever.

Forgetting about writing as a career (though she continued to write in exercise books and scrap paper, these still strewn about in her current home), she got through high school and university, finishing with a Bachelor in Business, and later a Bachelor in Teaching (Primary), before throwing it all in to have the most underrated job in the world: Motherhood!

While enjoying this amazing job, Jaci manages to fit in some sort of 'writing' -- including a blog (http://jaci-cox.blogspot.com.au/), journalising her pregnancy journeys in diaries she'll one day give to her children, writing short stories and stories for children. She is currently waiting to see her story 'Remembering Grandma' published in The School Magazine, free in New South Wales public schools (First Australian Rights purchased in 2012). She has also now self-published her first eBook, Runaway!

Runaway

General Children Fiction

Sammy is twelve years old and she knows it all. That's why she's better off leaving home and finding her own way . . . where? Well, she actually hadn't thought it through that far.

But this she knows for sure: she can't stand Mum's new boyfriend. So she's out of there!

But running away this time is not as simple as it used to be. She and best friend, Lucy, witness a burglary involving a family member, and now she knows the consequences are going to be worse than just being grounded. Running back to the safety of home, their secrets put their lives in danger. Running away is not the happy adventure she'd imagined it would be! And how much trouble is she really in now?

Meet Sammy Smart in the first book of the Samantha Smartypants series. Growing up is painful; but family and friends can soften the impact!