Crackpot

I applauded.

Mum bowed.

And Jake stuffed the cake into his vampire teeth-ed

mouth and ran off to look for Dracula.



All Phoebe wants is a normal family. But with a dad who keeps running away to the circus, an annoying younger brother who thinks he’s a vampire, and a crackpot mum who reckons she’s a comedian, ‘normal’ is a long way off.


“Crackpot is very funny and happy, but sometimes sad and so real.

Phoebe is super smart and her mum is crazy but fantastic.”

– Ashleigh Grimes


“I loved Crackpot. It was interesting, funny and fabulous to read.”

– Briannah Mile


“This is a delightful study of a girl coming to terms with her family, her

place in it, and the inevitable friendship puzzles.

It is a delight!”

– Dr Virginia Lowe

About the Author:

In her past life – pre children – Fiona Trembath was a writer, producer and performer of comedy. She then moved on to more serious ventures and worked in corporate training, audio engineering and music production, released a children’s CD, Imagine That!, completed two degrees, runs a successful training, writing and editing business, and has been teaching Professional Writing and Editing at Box Hill TAFE since 2000.


Fiona is a mother of three: Kate, who’s 27, and 16-year-old twins, Sam and Alex. In 2002 Fiona married Steve and became a stepmother to six children. Nothing has been the same since.


She lives with Steve and their combined bunch of remaining teenagers on five acres in the outer Melbourne suburb of Wattle Glen. Included in their menagerie are six chooks, two dogs, two horses, one cat, and the occasional mob of kangaroos, just passing through. Crackpot is Fiona’s first children’s novel.