Di Morrissey is absolutely one of the excellent authors the world has to offer these days. In fact, she was included in the list of most successful authors in the beautiful and progressive country of Australia. This Australian novelist has written a total of 24 best-selling novels, and she has published 2 excellent children’s books. Di Morrissey was born in Wingham, New South Wales on March 18, 1948. However, a few years right after she was born, her parents moved to Australia where she was raised in the northern part of Sydney, particularly in Pittwater. She actually grew up without a father. She only has a stepfather, but he unfortunately died while she was still at the very young age. Good thing her mother has a male friend, who happened to be a famous Australian actor named Chips Rafferty, and he was the one who helped them financially. He even helped her mother lent a job in the television and filming industry in Australia. With that being said, Kay Roberts, who happened to be Morrissey’s mother, got the chance to work in Film Australia, Australian Film Commission, and Artransa Studios.
Growing up without a father figure at her side is certainly not an easy thing to Morrissey. Even so, this does not stop her from living her life to the fullest. As a matter of fact, at a very young age of 17, she already worked as a cadet writer in one of the famous and reputable magazines in Australia, which is The Australian Women’s Weekly. Well, there is no question about that since Morrissey dreamed to become a writer and novelist ever since the world began. After leaving the office aisle of this magazine, she never stopped chasing her writing dream. For a number of years, she worked with so much passion in London’s Fleet Street. It was where she worked as a journalist, and earned a living. This was where she got her funds in order to afford the very cost of her living and for her mother as well.
While working, she met the man of his dreams. He was none other than Peter Morrissey, an American diplomat. She and Peter decided to get married after years of having a seem-to-be roller coaster boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. After getting married, they moved to Hawaii and started making their own family there. During their great stay in Hawaii, she got the chance to work with Hawaii’s pride when it comes to television company, which is the KGMB television company. Here, she was given with a special television project, which was morning talk show. Moreover, her acting prowess was also once tested when she was offered with multiple appearances in the famous TV series in CBS Channel titled Hawaii Five-O. She appeared in a number of episodes in this particular television series. She got the opportunity to work with the series’ lead star Jack Lord. Even so, since Di Morrissey’s husband, Peter, was a diplomat, it is just normal for them to move from one place to another. This was the main reason why she got the chance to live in a number of countries or places in the world. She experienced living in African countries like Guyana, and in several Southeast Asian countries.
After having a non-permanent address living experience for several years, Di and her husband Peter finally went back to Australia where she belongs. From there, she was offered with a new job that has something to do with current affairs. She was into a breakfast television show in Australia titled Good Morning Australia where she co-anchored with Gordon Elliot. This particular show was aired in Network Ten channel way back in the year 1981. She was one of the first news anchors in this particular TV show. From that year on, Morrissey found a successful television career in the country. But despite of her successful television career, she still felt incomplete. This was the main reason why she decided to give up her thriving television career and fulfilled her writing dream. It was way back in the year 1989 when she left television and wrote her first ever novel. It was then she was recognized as an excellent novelist in the country and in the entire world as well.
Morrissey’s genre of writing her novels is actually fiction. Aside from being a successful fictional writer, she was also an activist and environmentalist. As a matter of fact, her novels were written with so much environmental inspirations. Moreover, some of her novels were focused on cultural and political issues in the entire world. One of the excellent novels she published was the Heart of the Dreaming. It was actually her first ever novel published way back in the year 1991. The perfect setting of this novel was Morrissey’s homeland, Australia. This was the story of Queenie Hanlon. She was the one and only heiress of a family who owned the Tingulla Station. Tingulla Station was a famed outback property that was located in the remote place in the western part of Queensland. At the very young age of 22, she experienced a very traumatic life experience in which she lost all the love of her life – family. The only left for her was the Tingulla Station, which was the only remembrance her loved ones left for her. The exciting part started when she was about to lost even the Tingulla Station. This novel will let you know how a young woman fought in order not to lose a very important piece of her life.
One other award winning novel written by Morrissey was The Last Rose of Summer, which was published in the year 1992. This was actually a great story of 2 women who fought for their principles courageously. These two remarkable women were Kate and Odette. Kate was a strong-willed and extremely brave heiress who fought against Edwardian convention in order not to let her homeland fall in the wrong destructive hands. On the other hand, Odette was a young journalist woman, who was idealistic and independent enough to fight against the ruthless developers who have plans in destructing her beloved homeland, Zanana.
Books in order of publication:
Queenie and TR Books
| Heart of the Dreaming | (1991) | |
| Follow The Morning Star | (1993) |
Lily Barton Books
| Tears of the Moon | (1995) | |
| Kimberley Sun | (2002) |
Standalone Novels
| The Last Rose of Summer | (1992) | |
| The Last Mile Home | (1994) | |
| When the Singing Stops | (1996) | |
| The Songmaster | (1997) | |
| Scatter the Stars | (1998) | |
| Blaze | (2000) | |
| The Bay | (2001) | |
| Barra Creek | (2003) | |
| The Reef | (2004) | |
| The Valley | (2006) | |
| Monsoon | (2007) | |
| The Islands | (2008) | |
| The Silent Country | (2010) | |
| The Plantation | (2010) | |
| The Golden Land | (2012) | |
| The Opal Desert | (2012) | |
| The Winter Sea | (2014) | |
| The Road Back | (2015) | |
| Rain Music | (2015) | |
| A Distant Journey | (2017) | |
| The Red Coast | (2018) | |
| Arcadia | (2018) | |
| The Last Paradise | (2019) |
Children’s Books
| Buster and the Queen Bee | (2000) |
Short Story Collections
| Summer of Love | (1994) |
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