When Charlotte French, as a young tomboy, discovered Enid Blyton and The Famous Five, not only did she desperately want to be George—she wanted to be an author. Despite early attempts on the old Remington in the basement, it would take a migration across continents, half a century, and everything from dish pig to boutique/gallery owner before Charlotte faced her deepest fear of pursuing her enduring passion.

Charlotte grew up between two sisters with parents who bought themselves a hobby farm—complete with horses, sheep, and a donkey—to go with their full-time jobs. The inevitable divorce came when all the daughters had hit teens. Partly because of this, Charlotte spent her unstable youth floundering between odd jobs, avoiding all talk of serious education. The floundering came to a halt when she landed in Australia to visit her older sister and met the man who was to become the love of her life.

Marriage, motherhood, and general mayhem followed, as it does. Once the kids were at school, the always creative Charlotte, threw herself into the art & craft of making collectible teddy bears. This kept her out of trouble for eight years. After that, she and hubby opened a boutique/gallery which kept her out of trouble for another eight years. Through the decades, through all the entrepreneurial ventures, Charlotte kept dreaming about writing a book. One day. She was just too busy, was all. 

Then her mother passed away. In the midst of grief mortality whispered truth, and the dread of regret won over doubt and fear. In 2018, the Frenchs’ closed the boutique door for good and Charlotte signed up for an online creative writing course.

Charlotte, who has always read books and articles on writing, completed two brilliant courses by the Writer’s Studio in Sydney, followed by lots more books, workshops, writers’ events, and winning her first short story competition. Despite every intention to focus on flash, shorts, and more comps, Charlotte began her first novel. She finished it and shelved it. Then she wrote Agnes Treading Water. After six months in the query trenches, Charlotte —a control freak enthusiast— decided to pursue the indie publishing route. She published her debut novel in 2023, is now in the final edits of The Secret Life of Jasper Scragg, and also working on her next novel. To stay in the loop, you can sign up for her monthly newsletter.

Charlotte lives with Wayne in a house they’ve built, not far from the beach where they first met. The children became adults and moved out, but Banjo—the spanador—has successfully planted his speckled paws inside the door, spread his well chewed toys all over the house, and attached his exuberant personality to their hearts.

Having dealt with depression most of her life, autoimmune illness, and self-doubt, Charlotte is interested in the inner journeys of her characters so she has landed herself in the contemporary women’s fiction genre. Charlotte focuses on character, plot, and theme and strives to create characters you want to spend hours and hours with. She writes for you who want believable, imperfect people, character driven plots with good pace and dialogue. She hopes to offer entertainment and escape for you who long for common sense in a world gone bonkers, who don’t mind more serious subject matters if told in light-hearted stories.

When not writing, Charlotte goes about her daily life pretending not to be thinking about writing and obsessing about anything and everything story. 

Random facts about Charlotte

She’s happily married to the surf dude she went looking for in the 80’s

She thinks of herself as a jack of all trades and a late bloomer

Her sweet-tooth vices are 90% dark chocolate and salt liquorice

She suffers mild kompounophobia and severe arachnophobia

Thick socks inside all year around is her buffer against sand and spiders

She read Konrad Lorenz as a child and wanted to be a dog psychologist

Best time of the day is 4 am when she gets to write in peace, in a quiet world

She only takes her earphones out when she absolutely must talk to another human being

She once sold 100 handmade koalas to Abercrombie & Fitch. She’s not sewed a bear since.

Charlotte is an ambivert and an empath who cries at the drop of a hat.