- Please introduce yourself so that the readers will get to know you better.
HI, my name is Adrian. I am a writer, adventurer, disability advocate and i am non verbal with Cerebral Palsy. You might be wondering why i wrote that in the order that i did. I believe that the least interesting thing about me is my disability. It is my passions and talents that define me, not my limitations.
I have been writing in different genres for the last 18 or so years and it has been a great way of exploring the world and understanding the different experiences we all have while existing along side each other.
I am really excited to get to share my writing with all of you and hopefully change your world view a little bit too.
- What is your inspiration behind your book “Fletcher Babysits a Camel”?
Fletcher Babysits a camel is the final book in a three book series.
Each book takes place in a different setting and has a story that inspired my writing.
In Fletcher Babysits a Crocodile we visit suburbia. I live on the Sunshine Coast where Australia Zoo is – you might know about Steve Irwin who founded the zoo- they’re very passionate about Crocs there. One day while we visited the zoo I got to hold a baby croc and I was alarmed at how pointy his teeth already were!
Fletcher Babysits a Goat the second book, takes place in a rural setting. My friend told me a story of running from their neighbours goat as a child to climb the fence to get to their favorite climbing tree and once again the story took off in my imagination.
Fletcher Babysits a Camel is the final installation and is set in the city at a circus!
As a child I loved the circus. It was another world to escape to where strange things could happen! Camels are very humorous to me. I have a really fun memory of one of my old support workers having a camel spit at them which always has brought me so much joy remembering this moment and I wanted to capture that memory in a way.
- When did you realize you want to be an author?
I do not think there was a specific moment that i developed this ambition but it was a slow burn that ignited in the quiet corners of my mind and with every story, every poem, every song that i wrote it grew until all of a sudden i realised it was a dream to publish and share my writing more broadly.
- Please tell us something about your book “Fletcher Babysits a Camel”?
This book along with the two other Fletcher Babysits books all have an educational resource in the back pages with a fun facts page and a fun game. Each book has a different type of word game. A cross word, a word search and a word scramble. The thought behind this was to make the books a great options to have in school libraries and class rooms.
- For which age group is your book “Fletcher Babysits a Camel” suitable for?
Fletcher Babysits a Camel is a rhyming children’s story book that is illustrated by Sam Thomas using digital art as well as water colour art. The pictures tell the story independently of the written story so young children are able to enjoy it but the written story helps to develop skills such as rhyming, reading and vocabulary building in our school age kids.
- What is your favorite Quote?
I think this quote sums up the books plot very simply
“Our pair of camels just had a baby. The little tike is driving us crazy!”
- What do you like the most about your country?
There is a lot to love about Australia but i think the thing i love most is that we have this sense of “Mateship” which is the embodiment of equality, loyalty and friendship. It doesn’t matter where you are from, what you look like, how you communicate. We can all unite under Mateship.
- What suggestion do you want to give to parents of little readers regarding a reading habit?
I know that for a lot of adults that being silly can feel uncomfortable but if you have a resistant reader being overly dramatic and silly can really help them to engage. Act out the story, get others involved. make reading fun!
- What does literary success look like to you?
For me success is simply having the opportunity to share my words more broadly. Each interview, each review, each sale, i feel a sense of success!
- Lastly, who is your inspiration in life and why?
This is a bit unconventional but the answer is… Me! I was born into a world that insisted that i would have been better off dead. That i would have no quality of life.
Over the years, and with the encouragement from the family who adopted me i have learned to read, done university classes, presented poetry at poetry festivals, presented advocacy speeches in various settings, sky dived, been in race cars, been in an aero-acrobatic plane, fallen in and out of love, written and published this series, written songs that have been performed live and written a full length musical that is currently going through grant approvals to get up and off the ground to a production stage!
My life so far inspires me to keep pursuing my dreams.
Buy Fletcher Babysits a Camel on Amazon
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