ELSE, Barbara 1947-

PERSONAL: Born January 8, 1947, in Invercargill, New Zealand; daughter of George (a banker) and Dorothy (a homemaker; maiden name, Groves) Pearson; married T. James Neale (divorced); married Chris Else (a writer and consultant), February 27, 1993; children: (first marriage) Emma Jane, Sarah Anne. Ethnicity: "European." Education: University of Otago, M.A. (with honors). Hobbies and other interests: Gardening, walking, cats.

ADDRESSES: Office—TFS, P.O. Box 5522, Moray Place, Dunedin, New Zealand. E-mail—tfs@elseware.co.nz.

CAREER: TFS, Wellington, New Zealand, affiliate; University of Victoria, Wellington, New Zealand, writing fellow, 1999.

MEMBER: New Zealand Association of Manuscript Assessors (coordinator, 2001-04), New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN), New Zealand Book Council.

WRITINGS:

The Warrior Queen (novel), Random House (Auckland, New Zealand), 1995.

Gingerbread Husbands (novel), Random House (Auckland, New Zealand), 1997.

Skitterfoot Leaper (juvenile novel), HarperCollins (Auckland, New Zealand), 1997.

Eating Peacocks (novel), Random House (Auckland, New Zealand), 1998.

Tricky Situations (juvenile novel), Random House (Auckland, New Zealand), 1999.

Three Pretty Widows (novel), Random House (Auckland, New Zealand), 2000.

(Editor) Grand Stands: New Zealand Writers on Being Grandparents, Vintage (Auckland, New Zealand), 2000.

The Case of the Missing Kitchen (novel), Random House (Auckland, New Zealand), 2003.

Editor of Another Thirty New Zealand Stories for Children, Weird and Wonderful New Zealand Stories, and Claws and Jaws: Thirty New Zealand AnimalStories. Author of stage plays and radio plays; short stories have also been broadcast. Contributor of short stories to periodicals. Some writings have also been translated into German.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Wild Latitude, a novel, for Random House (Auckland, New Zealand); research on the history of New Zealand since 1860.

SIDELIGHTS: Barbara Else told CA: "I am fascinated by the difference between outward appearance and inner reality, and the way those things are influenced by apparently minor details. In particular, I am interested in the control gender expectations have on our behavior. Most of my novels deal with these issues. I am also intrigued by the way we use humor as a strategy in coping with difficulties.

"Typically, I take four or more drafts to complete a novel. In a first draft, I am finding out about the characters and their situations, a process full of surprises. In a sense, in that first draft I'm telling the story to myself."