Vena McGrath - November 2003
(Credit: NSW Government Newspaper)

Published in the NSW Government Newspaper printed by the NSW Department of Commerce November 2003 issue. The story appeared on the back page together with the crossword and one question in the crossword related to the story. I have been advised that space will be made available to me to announce the release date and other details once the time is closer to release. This newspaper goes out to over 3000 people and is available online on the Commerce Intranet website.

How does someone go from being a total novice at surfing the Internet to writing a book about leading a life that revolves around it?

Just ask Vena McGrath. Vena was a self-described "technophobe." Now her book about her life on the net will be published in the US, Canada, Great Britain and Australia early next year.

Vena has worked as an Executive Assistant and more recently as Administration Officer supervising a small administration team, at Commerce, Heritage and Building Services Unit (HABS) at Doonside since March 1995.

In 1999, she decided to buy herself a computer for use at home because she "wanted to write a story …about… growing up in Australia."

Instead, after becoming acquainted with her new toy she "began … attempts at surfing the internet - often with disastrous results," as she describes it.

Not easily deterred however, Vena discovered chat rooms. Initially she found them to be "a totally alien place, the language almost unintelligible… weird even, and … considered the people behind the 'nick' names to be totally weird too," Vena said.

However, slowly but surely Vena became more than a little intrigued - "even addicted, " she admits.

As a consequence of her new hobby, a new life opened up for Vena. One in which, in addition to discovering some of the pitfalls of talking to people on line, she found many good times and many friends. A lot of these people lived in other parts of Australia or overseas, so came visits, travelling and more.

"To say I changed totally, is putting it mildly. My values and beliefs changed; I saw myself stepping outside the circle of my sheltered life and doing things that once I would never have even thought about," she said.

Vena did write a book - but not the one she originally set out to. This book, revolves around her discovery of the net - its negatives and what for her were amazing positives. After getting input from many of her Internet friends, she sent a manuscript to a publisher in both America and Australia. Within seven short weeks, she had received the big 'yes' and a publishing contract to sign from the American publisher.

The title of the book hasn't yet been negotiated. However, Vena is now working on the first rewrite, and its release is planned for early next year. Understandably she is very excited.

Congratulations Vena. We will definitely let everyone know when it's all finalised.