Laura Morris is a Sunshine Coast-based author and primary school teacher. Her writing has appeared in Queensland Writer’s Centre’s Pen and Pixel magazine, and her short story Tarnished is published in the 2025 Sydney Hammond Memorial Short Story Competition Anthology. Her writing is used in her teaching and by her teaching peers to help implement the English curriculum. Her debut novel, The Wall Within, made the shortlist of QWC’s Publishable program in 2022 and the longlist of the 2025 Hawkeye Manuscript Development Prize.
She’s the mother of two teens and is happily married to a man who is like MacGyver and can build anything. She owns a glossy Chocolate Labrador, Milo, who enjoys surprise treats and belly rubs. She loves writing, gardening, Gamefit Tennis and Pickleball.
The Wall Within is coming soon.
What inspired you to be a writer?
My love of writing stories started when I was eight years old. My teachers, Mrs Mannion and Mrs Carmen, encouraged me to write my own mini books (stapled pieces of paper) and share them with my class. In Year 5 I started writing actual novels with Mrs Whitehouse, and this continued in Years 6 and 7 with Mrs Hahn. I did a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in English at the University of Queensland but did not do the writing subjects there—I think I was fearful of failure. However, over the years I have conquered these fears. I completed a Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing at the University of the Sunshine Coast. This course inspired me to write my first chapter of The Wall Within. I then completed the manuscript over the years and entered it into Queensland Writers Centre’s Publishable program and made the shortlist in 2022. After this, it also made the longlist of Hawkeye Publishing’s Manuscript Development Prize in 2025.
There is nothing like being swept away by your own words! I am definitely not a planner and I get so excited when I can create worlds that make me shudder and shake as I write. Short stories are fun to write as they can be done in one session and can transport you into another world so quickly.
What prompted you to write 'The Wall Within'?
I grew up watching many World War Two movies with my dad. Learning about historical events has always interested me. I began thinking about the idea of changing history. What if something from the past never happened? How would that affect the present?
Do you have any more books in the pipeline?
I enjoy writing short stories. I have completed a middle grade manuscript about a feisty chicken who helps her human friend who is being bullied. I am also working on the sequel to The Wall Within.
What is your professional background?
I'm a primary school teacher—starting my career in Western Queensland and now working on the Sunshine Coast. I have taught grades two to eight.
Any advice you’d like to give to aspiring writers?
I tell my students to 'just write'. Write anything. There is joy to having words on the paper. Use your senses and visualise the experience. Don’t worry about what other people think of your writing. Cast away your fears and just go for it. Life is too short.
Who/what inspires you?
My parents were a great inspiration to me. They had such amazing lives, living on three continents and facing significant challenges over the course of their lives. My Dad remembered the bombings in England during World War Two. My Mum lived with her grandparents for a year as a one-year-old in 1945–1946 when her mother had twins and things became too tough with three other children. My Mum’s father was also an underground resistance fighter against the German occupation of Holland. Jewish people often place stones on his gravesite as a sign of respect.
My husband and my two children inspire me with their love and wonderful, kind nature. My friends inspire me—we have so much fun together. Inspirational people are those who can triumph over adversity, and those people continually surprise me.
What are your hobbies, interests and favourite books?
I love to play Game Fit Tennis with my tennis crew 'Grand Slams'. I also thoroughly enjoy playing Pickleball. As team 'Pickled Pink', my pickleball partner and I won a gold medal at a recent tournament. I love to read and write stories, of course. I also enjoy gardening, spending time with my family, travelling and love playing with my Chocolate Labrador, Milo.
I love the classics like Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights or anything by Jane Eyre and I do love dystopian fiction as well. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road was a major inspiration for The Wall Within. I also thoroughly enjoyed reading Bren MacDibble’s The Dog Runner, Claire Zorn’s The Sky So Heavy, Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking and Garth Nix’s We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old Overlord.
How can readers contact you?
Instagram: @laura_morris_writer
Facebook: Laura Morris – Writer
TikTok: @lauramorriswriter
Website: lauramorriswriter.com
