About us

Steve Coleman

Steve spent his first years on a pineapple farm in the bush on Magnetic Island in tropical North Queensland, Australia. As with many other children in the neighbourhood at the time, (no electricity, no phone, no town water) Steve’s childhood play-ground consisted of rocks, trees, the seasonal creeks, the beach, shallow reef flats, good Magnetic Island earth and an alive imagination. From this earthy background, came Steve’s passion for the bush. In fact, for much of his professional career, which now spans decades, he has shared his accumulated knowledge and passion with thousands of children, young adults and countless other outdoor adventure seekers.

Steve graduated as a teacher from the Townsville Teachers’ College (now James Cook University) in 1971. His experience since, spans some early years in secondary education, teaching mathematics and science in Queensland and New Zealand classrooms; through a switch in the nineteen-eighties to teaching in the great aussie outdoors, to recent years where he has set up and run a personal growth and education business based in North Queensland. Sharing the richness and inspiration of that experience through creating quality literature for young readers is a vital part of that business.
For more information, contact Steve at [email protected] .

Katrina Guazzo

Katrina grew up among the cane fields of Ingham in North Queensland with her parents and two siblings. Her days were spent exploring the banks of Trebonne Creek on which their home was built, the remnants of the Hamleigh sugar mill and looking after their menagerie of animals. Family holidays were filled with camping trips to Mount Fox and seaside holidays to the family beach house at Lucinda. From a young age, Katrina loved reading and painting and would spend any spare time she had with her head in a book or experimenting with paint and brush. She attended school in Ingham and, not surprisingly, Art and English were her favourite subjects.

After finishing school, Katrina moved to Townsville to attend university where she studied a Bachelor of Journalism and, later, a Bachelor of Education. Although she dabbled in the media industry for a few years, she soon found her true vocation was in teaching. Katrina is passionate about educating adolescents and currently works at an all-boys secondary school which is where she met Steve Coleman.

Steve and Katrina agreed to collaborate on Naree the Fire Lady one afternoon over a cup of tea and the rest, as they say, is history. Their meeting resulted in a year-long journey in which Steve and Katrina worked closely sharing their ideas to bring Naree, her home, and family and friends to life. This is the first book Katrina has illustrated and she enjoyed capturing the mystical Naree’s beauty and feminine energy. She feels privileged to have had the opportunity to work with Steve on this very special project. Katrina lives with her husband, their beautiful new baby and family pets in Townsville, and was able to gain much inspiration for the illustrations from her present and childhood surroundings.

Sabine Carter

Sabine grew up in Gemany where she studied Visual Communications at the Folkwang Hochschule. She met her husband in England and after having lived together in Germany for 12 years they decided to move to Townsville with their three kids. They enjoy their tropical lifestyle and Sabine in particular has developed a passion for Townsville’s beautiful natural surroundings. She loves bird watching, rain forest walks, snorkeling and scuba diving.

Having worked in print media for over 20 years Sabine has designed everything from a logo to a billboard, from postcards and flyers to magazines and books. Her expertise is branding and corporate design but she also loves illustration and collage as it gives her a great freedom of expression. In her spare time Sabine facilitates art classes and workshops for children and adults.

Sabine met Steve when she was working for Through The Looking Glass Studio. Her first job for Steve was the layout for Naree the Fire Lady. They then worked together on Jodi and the Turtle; for Sabine it was the first time she illustrated a children’s book and it was a great experience for her. Sabine and Steve are now collaborating to develop Green Tale Publishing into a great platform for writers and illustrators a like.