STUTLEY, D(oris) J(ean) 1959-

PERSONAL: Born April 14, 1959, in Enid, OK; daughter of Paul King (an electrical contractor) and Donna Rose (Starbuck) Anderson; married Chris Stutley (a construction electrician), October 15, 1977; children: Andrew, Belinda, Joanna, Samantha. Religion: Baptist. Hobbies and other interests: Family history, cross-stitch embroidery.

ADDRESSES: Home—Australia. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Lothian Books, 11 Munro St., Port Melbourne, Victoria 3207, Australia. E-mail—djstutley@hotmail. com.

CAREER: Writer. Volunteer at local schools; served as a missionary in Papua New Guinea.

MEMBER: Australian Society of Authors, Children's Book Council of Australia, Western Australia State Literature Centre, Fremantle Children's Literature Centre.

AWARDS, HONORS: Children's Book of the Year nomination, and Ned Kelly Crime Award shortlist, Crime Writers' Association of Australia, both for Operation Foxtrot Five.

WRITINGS:

young adult suspense novels

Operation Foxtrot Five, Lothian Books (Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), 2001.

Operation Delta Bravo, Lothian Books (Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), 2002.

Operation Alpha Papa, Lothian Books (Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), 2003.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Operation Tango Two-Two and Operation Romeo Siera, young adult suspense novels.

SIDELIGHTS: D. J. Stutley told CA: "In 1998, I decided that I had done enough school duties in the kindergarten, library, canteen, and uniform shop. After all, I have been doing some form of school volunteer work for eighteen years as our four children progressed through the education system. Now I thought it was time to do what I'd always dreamed of doing—write a book.

"Once I got started, I was halfway through the book when I already had the next one going around in my head. By the time I was finished, three and a half years had passed, and I was the proud owner of four manuscripts I had no idea what to do with. Through an amazing series of events, the second publisher I approached took the first book in the series and also snapped up book two and book three as well. Operation Foxtrot Five was nominated for a children's book of the year award and shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Crime Award. So far the royalty cheques from the sale of the book have been donated to our local Police and Citizens Youth Club. Because the series is based on the relationship between a police officer and a family of teenagers, I wanted to do something special with the proceeds of the first book. It has been a pleasure to support an existing program that encourages a good relationship between the police and teenagers in the local community.

"My writing style for the series is simple because I have a passion for the reluctant reader. I was one of those and really struggled to find something that was at my level. During my school years, I always received excellent grades for my English subjects. The projects and assignments that I completed came back covered in so much red ink that you would have thought someone had died over it because I was such a hopeless speller. Thankfully, my teachers could see my potential and didn't grade me according to my spelling.

"My husband and I have been married for twenty-five years, and we spent our first years living and working on farms. In the early 1980s, we joined Asia Pacific Christian Mission (now Pioneers) and went to Papua New Guinea with our two small children. For three of our four years there, we were hostel parents to the school-age children of other missionary families. The children, Australians and New Zealanders aged between eight and twelve, would fly from their outstations to Tari for their schooling and live with us. We had up to thirteen extra children in our care at a time, and through the years, we cared for a total of nineteen children. After we came back to Australia, my husband began a mature-age apprenticeship in the electrical construction industry, and we had two more children. I have never been in the workforce; I preferred to remain a stay-at-home mother raising the family.

"I love digging into our family history, and when time permits, I enjoy working on my latest cross-stitch project. I have become involved in a volunteer reading program with the local high school and go in for two hours a week."