Welcome! I am Helen Edwards, Writer, Blogger, Author, Mama. I am the Author of 2 print books, a number of e books, and the editor of one. I am currently writing a middle grade novel set in rural Australia, and am close to completing my PhD in Psychology.
I have been blogging since 2001 and have written literally thousands of blog posts. I have also written for numerous print and digital magazines, journals, academic conferences, blogs and websites. I have been reading and writing since I was tiny, and most of my spare time as a child was spent with my head buried in a book. When I was in grade 1, the teachers sent me to the library to choose my own readers, because I had already read the entire suite of junior readers. I remember winning an award for a book I had written when I was 6 years old, during Children's Book Week. It still takes pride of place and even has my scrawly 6 year old handwriting in the front "Published by Helen Wilde, Written by Helen Wide" (my maiden name). The book on the left was my prize!
Later, after my family moved to a different town, my parents taught at the area school I attended. In the holidays the most magical part was being allowed to roam the library and select an enormous box of books for the break.
I remember reading the back of a cereal pack at the breakfast table if there was nothing else nearby. My passion for words, pictures, creativity, nature and people, has led me through a life that has centred around stories.
This has included working as a social worker for many years, using narrative therapy, which is essentially about stories. I founded an online counselling service for people with diabetes in 2001, well before there was any social media. I was an Australian of the Year state finalist and a Telstra Business Woman of the Year state finalist in 2016 for my charitable diabetes counselling service. and blog.
In 2013 I started The Sustainable Home Hub (then Recycled Interiors) as an outlet for my interest in design, decoration, the arts and our planet. It took off quickly and I now have over 140,000 people following my blog and online directory for sustainable living. In 2018 I was awarded bronze for sustainability in the AusMumpreneur Awards. See more here.
Books, words, writing, pictures and stories, are my everything.
First and foremost however, I am Mama to these 3 gorgeous boys (all a little older than when this photo was taken), and wife to my wonderful husband who I married in 1998. Sharing my life with them and their stories is the most spectacular thing I have ever done. I have read many thousands of stories to these boys since 1993, when I had my first son and like me, they are all book lovers.
It is pretty amazing to have these 3 wonderful humans, considering my type 1 diabetes, which I have lived with since 1979. Pregnancy with type 1 diabetes is tough. I was told at the age of 12 that I would never have children and if I dared, they would be born deformed, or dead. It was a terrible thing to live with. However I proved them wrong. This is why I am so passionate about the topic of my PhD, supporting women with type 1 diabetes to have happy, healthy pregnancies.
I am an eternal optimist, and lover of colour and nature. I DO NOT like large spiders. Just in case you were thinking of showing me any of those - small ones and those non-spider spiders are ok (like Daddy Long Legs).
I do however LOVE whales, please share them a lot with me. And elephants, and horses, and birds, and pretty much all of nature. I also adore trees and flowers, and as well as writing, love to take photos. You can find me on instagram here.
I grew up in rural towns in South Australia with my baby sister and bohemian parents who taught me the value of people and planet. Both are incredibly clever and creative themselves.
They filled me up with the arts, nature and sciences - music, art, literature, dance, the sky, the stars, trees, camping, roadtrips, animals, Harry Butler, The Goons, Monty Python and David Attenborough, were all part of my life. Camping in tents, climbing mountains, swimming in creeks and the ocean, and walking in the rain through forests were experienced aplenty.
As with most people, my story has not been all light and laughter. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 12 years old and told I would never have children, would develop all sorts of horrible complications and have a shortened life - thus far I have pretty much avoided all of those things. I have lived with depression and anxiety in my past, which was a pretty crap place to be for an optimist. But I got through it and optimism helped. As did family, love, mindfulness and most definitely, writing.
I love to share, a lot, about everything. My favourite smell is that of rain. Old things and stories make my heart skip a beat, and writing is my everything. Being able to write, makes me feel that the world is right. It was writing that got me through the dark parts of my life and has shared my greatest joys.
