AustLit

She began writing at an early age, but it was not until the late 1980s that she began submitting manuscripts to publishers of romance fiction. Her manuscripts were rejected - with good reason, she says - and it was not until she began writing for the young adult market that she 'found her voice'. Themes and issues she explores in her novels include family, peer pressure, the nature of friendship and self-acceptance. Because of her familiarity with the region, McKerral set her novels in South Australia. She also felt that young South Australians should be able to see their own home reflected in books. Her third novel was written with the assistance of a literature grant from the then South Australian Department for the Arts & Cultural Development.

McKerral's other work includes photography, diagrams and feature articles, which have appeared in both national and regional publications and local and state newspapers, as well as writing a column for Your Garden magazine (Australia and New Zealand). Her book Gardening on a Shoestring was published in 1999, and she co-authored (with Barbara St. John) Nene Valley Conservation Park : A Field Study to Determine Management Priorities and Problems (1985). She taught horticulture and worked in a plant nursery, and other jobs included snake handling at a fauna park and stuffing dead ducks at a museum.