More about Lizzie Wilcock

Lizzie and Isla Lizzie Wilcock was born in Fairfield, NSW, in 1965. She is the fourth of nine children. When she was ten her family bought a dairy farm near Scone, in the Hunter Valley of NSW. City kids became country kids overnight, with only a new pair of gumboots to ease the transition. The only way Lizzie could get any peace and quiet as a child (and escape from the never-ending chores) was to bury herself in books. Lizzie became an avid reader, but her writing was confined to school tasks. ‘I always wanted to be a writer, but writing seemed so much harder than reading. You had to think and construct and plan and edit. It didn’t sound as enjoyable as reading.’ Lizzie studied at The University of Newcastle (Bachelor of Education) and became a primary school teacher. She has taught in Sydney, Newcastle, Vancouver and Singapore. Lizzie began writing in 2000, beginning with children’s stories, but only one was ever published. ‘I wrote a fractured fairytale based on The Three Billy Goats Gruff, called The Three Silly Girls Gruff.’ It was published in the NSW School Magazine in 2001. Lizzie then decided to write for teenagers. She wrote her first Young Adult novel, Losing It, in 2003-2004. She sent it off to publishers and it was immediately contracted for publication by Scholastic Australia. It was released in 2006. Losing It was shortlisted in the Young Adult section of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards in 2006. Lizzie’s second novel, griEVE, was published in 2007. It was shortlisted for the Ethel Turner Prize for Young Adult Fiction in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards in 2008. Lizzie’s third novel, “Extinction: The Day the World Ended” was released in March 2011. Her fouth novel, “Give Me Four Reasons” was released in July 2011. Her fifth novel – the conclusion to the Extinction Series, “Extinction 2: The Explosive Conclusion” was released in August 2011. “Thirst” is Lizzie’s sixth novel. It was published in 2015. Lizzie lives in Newcastle, NSW, Australia, with her husband Phil and daughter Isla.