S J Finn was dragged into this world and she's mighty glad about it.

She goes by the name Finn.

The first time she was published, she was eight years-of-age. It was a tiny poem about winter.

Finn was educated at a small independent school for girls. She wonders about her education: how good or otherwise it was. The standout feature was the female role models: women were in charge of everything. She went on to study humanities at Monash University and then social work at the University of Melbourne, but again, her education came mostly from real life interactions: from volunteering at Life Line and work experience at Bouverie Clinic.

Various jobs kept her independent of government benefits for a few years after this. (She looked too young to be a social worker.) Finn worked as a muso, a knitter, a gherkin picker, an electric light assembler and refused jobs that required her to sell products that never, apparently, disappeared from the planet.

The first political thing she did, happened quite by accident. When receiving the dole in Queensland and demanding she get a payment independant of her partner, the public service were forced to re-write the state's computer program after her half of a couples' payment failed to arrive in her bank account. She (and all the women who followed) would now receive their money independent of their partner.

[Gherkins grow on long vines along the ground and the work is hard on the knees. They also have tiny prickles on them which sting the fingertips unmercifully after an eight hour stint.]

When she was 29, Finn had a son. By then, along with her son's father, she had built 3 houses. All were constructed by their very own hands from the foundations up. The abode at Waterholes is one such house.

After working as a family counsellor, Finn became a family therapist and moved from the country to the city, back to where she grew up. She worked at The Royal Children's Hospital mental health unit. Her first novel, This Too Shall Pass, was set in this period. When she left her position as Team Leader of a multi-discipline team, she opened a private practice and got a part-time job as a harm reduction practitioner, at the 24/7 St Kilda needle and syringe program, where she still works today.

Being a social worker has kept her gainfully employed over the years. Being a creative writer has kept her alive.

Through her experience at the needle exchange and because of families Finn had seen for therapy over the years, she founded International Overdose Awareness Day.

Finn loves to take photographs. All the shots on this website are hers. Check out her flickr account: here

Being a dreamer, she has to make sure she's concentrating on the road when she's driving.