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About

Ingrid Jonach has loved books since her grandpa read her The Three Little Pigs over and over again as a kid.

She was first published at age seven in her school yearbook. It was a poem about the old lady who swallowed a fly. In a plot twist the old lady swallowed Ingrid, who then played her ribs like a xylophone.

It stood to reason that her first book would be a rhyming picture book. A Lot of Things was self published in 2005 and was illustrated by her mother Pauline Jonach — a tertiary qualified artist.

While working as a journalist at The Canberra Times Ingrid wrote The Frank Frankie — a story about a little girl who starts her own newspaper. In late 2006, Ingrid was offered a two-book deal by Pan Macmillan Australia for The Frank Frankie and its sequel Frankie goes to France.

The books — which are suited to age groups seven and up — were released in 2007 and 2008 respectively, and have since been re-released as eBooks by Macmillan Digital. In 2009, Frankie goes to France was also re-published by Macmillan Education. Read the reviews.

Ingrid has toured extensively — speaking at schools, hospitals, libraries and festivals in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. She has also been featured in a variety of media, including The Canberra Sunday Times, The Herald Sun, and ABC Television.

Her debut young adult novel When The World Was Flat (and we were in love) was published by global imprint Strange Chemistry in September 2013. The novel was represented by US agent Meredith Kaffel from DeFiore and Company. When Strange Chemistry closed and its parent company was sold in late 2014, Ingrid decided to request a rights reversion and self-publish When The World Was Flat (and we were in love). She has since released a second young adult novel, In The Beginning There Was Us.

If you would like to find out more about Ingrid you can read her blog or visit her on Twitter, YouTube or Facebook.

Here are a few fun facts in the meantime:

  • By the time she finished high school, Ingrid had lived in nine houses and attended eight schools.
  • She once owned a goat — and a rabbit, a rooster, a mouse and ducks. And a caterpillar until it turned into a moth. She called it Gutsy.
  • Her father lives in the US. And so does her sister Kara.
  • She is a dual citizen of Australia and Austria (yes, they are two different countries and only one of them has kangaroos).
  • She has two older brothers who have served in the Navy and the Air Force. She considered enlisting in the Army for a millisecond of a second.
  • She loves Elvis Presley and has written on his wall at Graceland. She has also attended the world renowned Elvis Festival in Parkes, New South Wales. No, she did not dress up as Priscilla.
  • Her mother and stepfather are both visual artists. (Her stepfather sadly passed away in early 2010.)
  • Her step-cousin is bestselling novelist Di Morrissey.

Photo by Beata English Photography.