Self publishing - doubts and all!

Writing the book "Mr Percival the Pelican" gave me opportunity to get into the role of writer and self publisher. Self publishing has been some journey and I am so thankful two committed ladies known as "The Twinnies" agreed to me writing a story for children, highlighting the great work which they do. To date I believe all books suppled to them, selling for $10 per copy has raised almost $800 for the TWINNIES PELICAN AND SEABIRD RESCUE CENTRE with which they are involved.

The process of Self publishing followed by the marketing of the book, is a certainly dynamic process and is not, I have found, for the faint hearted. Doubts flood in as the dollars going out don't match the dollars returning to the coffers. So how does one keep the dream alive? People. people, people, people do. Both the flesh and blood variety and the fictional imaginings.

The 'flesh and bloods' keep my dream alive when they ask me to sign the flyleaf of a book because one day they think I will be famous. The 'flesh and bloods' keep my dream alive when they buy repeat copies for another set of grand children. The 'flesh and bloods' keep my dream alive when they tick 'like' on my Facebook page.

The 'fictional imaginings' keep my dream alive when they nudge and disturb my negative nightmares. Ideas in bubbles start to appear, grow and then pop, spraying and soaking my "its never going to happen meanies" with growing possibilities. The "fictional imaginings' tell me their own story but say they need a voice - and I guess that is me for my favourite character Matilda the Water Mouse from Bribie Island!

C_S_Lewis  in his book "The Magician's Nephew" encourages to:

“Make your choice, adventurous Stranger,
 Strike the bell and bide the danger,
Or wonder, till it drives you mad,
 What would have followed if you had.”   

So I guess I will keep on keeping on because I don't want to be left wondering what would have happened if    ....... !

A BIT OF A BUZZ

The phone call came and I heard the excited voice of my sister telling me to switch on the TV because the Twinnies with Dr Chris [Bondi Vet] were releasing the pelican Little Johnnie into her natural habitat.

Please note that Little Johnnie's story forms part of the story which Mr Percival relates in the book "Mr Percival the Pelican."[See previous posts 96.5 Family Show]

It was very moving to see Little Johnnie returning to her own environment. I noticed tears in the eyes of the Twinnies and I think Dr Chris looked moved also.

So glad I met these remarkable ladies, the Twinnies, and feel a bit chuffed that I could get into a small part of this fantastic work.

BOOK 6 - PETUNIA PELICAN

The book is inspired by the brilliant work which is done at the Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue Centre in Landsborough Queensland.

PETUNIA the PELICAN is a pelican who wins against all the odds with help from family and friends.

She tells a shocking story to the Vet as her broken wing is treated. It looks like she may never fly again.









She remembers the lamppost on the Bridge where she used to sit. SO SAD!

A friend decides to help and builds a flying machine for her, in his shed.







............ THERE IS A HAPPY ENDING TO THIS STORY.

96.5 FAMILY SHOW

An invitation to the Brisbane Radio Station gave opportunity to introduce "Mr Percival the Pelican" to Liam, Robbie, Ness and a wider audience.

MR PERCIVAL is a pelican who lives at the Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue Centre in  Qld Australia. I had met the Twinnies who seemed happy for me to write a short story for children based around the work in which they were involved. Note they had named the pelican Mr Percival in honour of the Book "Storm Boy' by Colin Thiel.

EBOOK AVAILABLE

MR PERCIVAL THE PELICAN - ISBN number 9780992507619
is available on the following sites:

AMAZON KINDLE - $4.25
IBOOKSTORE - 3.99.
[Ibooks app needs to be downloaded for this one]

Story telling at ASPLEY EAST STATE SCHOOL

Charlotte attends Aspley East State School and she is in Grade I. At a recent "Show and Tell" she had taken in a few of the books which I had sent to her. She told her classmates about her Granny the AUTHOR. Hence an invitation came from the teacher for me to do a "Show and Tell"! Well maybe not but at least a time to talk about writing and how I got into the art of "Storytelling on Paper'.

As I prepared for the session, my memory kicked in to a time in 1968 when I sat in front of a group of similar students in Knotty Ash Liverpool UK. I was a student teacher on my first Teaching Practice. The story was told to the students, with all the emphasis and drama I could muster and their hands shot up when it came for questions. I was so excited that they had been rivited by the story and  I asked a little girl what she wanted to say and the answer was " I have a pencil case like yours". Ego sufficiently flattened!!!

So what lay ahead in the classroom at Aspley East, Brisbane Queensland?

The green chair at the front of the classroom beckoned for me to sit down and the students gathered around my knees (which were feeling a little shaky). I was introduced as Mrs Jackson by the classroom teacher and the stories of Mr Percival the Pelican, Magnificent Matilda, Rocky Rocketfrog, Lily Frillyneck and Scarlet the GreenTreefrog bubbled to the surface of my mind and words spilled out to these beautifully attentive students.

A question was asked by the teacher what makes a good story? A hero and a villain was my answer.

"Oh like in the stories Star Wars and the Hobbit" a student commented. I must make mention that the age group of the students is 6 years. I think my mouth dropped open with surprise but I smiled and said "That is exactly right!" It was a revelation that the stories of Darth Vader had an appeal to a 6 year old female student. Maybe one of her parents has a love for the Star Wars trilogy and had passed this on to her. I didn't think it was part of the classroom curriculum. 

I realised that my journey from Knotty Ask to Aspley East over a few decades had brought many changes and revelations. The final thought I leave you with today relates to a comment made by my youngest granddaughter Amelia who had been present with her mum Amy, in my "Show and Tell"

" You aren't Mrs Jackson, you are Granny."