"McCallum has a keen eye for fine detail and writes about raw emotion better than any other contemporary writer I know." Warcry Magazine

About Fiona

Short bio:

Fiona McCallum was raised on a cereal and wool farm near Cleve on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula and remained in the area until her mid-twenties. Having lived in Melbourne and Sydney, she currently resides in Adelaide. Fiona is the author of more than a dozen bestselling novels that draw on her rich and contrasting life experiences, love of animals and fascination with human nature. Fiona’s seventeenth novel, Right Way Up, was released April 2 (2025).

For more information about Fiona and her books, visit her website at fionamccallum.com. She can also be found on Facebook at facebook.com/fionamccallum.author

Longer bio:

Fiona McCallum spent her childhood years on the family cereal and wool farm outside the small town of Cleve on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. An avid reader and writer, she decided at the age of nine that she wanted to be the next Enid Blyton! She completed her final years of schooling at a private boarding school in Adelaide.

Having returned to her home town to work in the local council office, Fiona maintained her literary interests by writing poetry and short stories, and studying at TAFE via correspondence. Her ability to put into words her observations of country life saw a number of her feature articles published in the now defunct newspaper SA Statewide.

When her marriage ended Fiona moved to Adelaide, eventually found romance, and followed it to Melbourne. She returned to full-time study at the age of twenty-six and in 2000 graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Professional Writing & Editing and History) from Deakin University. While studying, she found herself drawn to writing fiction where her keen observation of the human condition and everyday situations could be combined with her love of storytelling.

After brief stints in administration, marketing, and recruitment, Fiona started Content Solutions, a consultancy providing professional writing and editing services to the corporate sector. Living with a sales and marketing executive and working on high level business proposals and tenders in Australia and overseas, gave Fiona great insight into vastly different ways of life.

Fiona continued to develop her creative writing skills by reading widely and voraciously, and attending several short courses. In 2001 she realised her true passion lay in writing full-length fiction, and in 2002 completed her first manuscript.

In early 2004 Fiona made the difficult decision to return to Adelaide alone in order to achieve a balanced lifestyle and develop a career as a novelist. She successfully re-established her consultancy.

After enduring almost ten years of rejections from agents and publishers, Fiona's first novel Paycheque was published in April 2011. It became an 'instant bestseller'. In the twelve years since, Fiona has written another fourteen bestselling novels: Nowhere Else, Wattle Creek, Saving Grace, Time Will Tell, Meant To Be, Leap of Faith, Standing Strong, Finding Hannah, Making Peace, A Life of Her Own, The Long Road Home and Trick of the Light, Her Time to Shine, Sunrise Over Mercy Court and Looking Out. Right Way Up is Fiona’s seventeenth book.

Now a full-time novelist, Fiona writes heart-warming stories that draw on her rich and contrasting life experiences, love of animals and fascination with human nature.

Fiona currently resides in suburban Adelaide.

For more information about Fiona and her books, visit her website at fionamccallum.com. She can also be found on Facebook at facebook.com/fionamccallum.author

Most recent title:

Right Way Up (April 2025)

Published titles:

Latest title:

Looking Out (April 2024)

Stand-alone titles:

Sunrise Over Mercy Court (2023)

Paycheque (2011)

Nowhere Else (2011)

Leap of Faith (2015)

Series (each title can also be enjoyed alone):

The Trick of the Light Series

Trick of the Light (2021)

Her Time to Shine (2022)

The Ballarat series:

A Life of Her Own (2019)

The Long Road Home (2020)

The Finding Hannah series:

Finding Hannah (2017)

Making Peace (2018)

The Wattle Creek series:

Wattle Creek (2012)

Standing Strong (2016)

The Button Jar series:

Saving Grace (2013)

Time Will Tell (2014)

Meant To Be (2014)