It’s never to late to start a new chapter, as author Jennifer Laidlaw ably demonstrates with her debut children’s book, The Adventures of Arno and Sophie. The Courier caught up with her to find out more.
She may be approaching her 80th birthday but it seems that Jennifer Laidlaw has no plans to put her feet up – or her pen down – just yet.
The Edinburgh-born author, whose career as a writer of distance learning materials began in that city, found inspiration for her debut children’s story right on her doorstep in Fife.
Writing right from the start
Jennifer started out working in the National Commercial Bank, which was more recently reincarnated at The Dome. “I very much enjoyed bank work,” she recalls, “and sat bank examinations, although I was in the minority as girls were really not encouraged to study topics such as Scots Law, Economics, accountancy etc. Sitting these examinations changed everything for me.
“I was chosen with another male colleague to learn how to write and design distance learning materials for bank employees. The idea was that no matter where trainees worked, the highlands and islands or the big cities, they would all have equal opportunities to effective training. It was a fantastic challenge and kept me busy writing for several years.”
Medical texts
Later, she moved to a role with the University of Dundee which saw her: “applying the same educational principles to distance learning materials for members of the medical profession, and in particular for general practitioners.
“I was also the first person to work with all members of the healthcare team to produce educational material for patients who had suffered a heart attack.”
More recently, Jennifer co-authored Essential Skills for a Medical Teacher along with Professor Ronald Harden.
From academic to children’s books
So how did a writer with such a wealth of knowledge in the field of academic texts make the leap to writing a story for children?
“The idea to write a children’s book was not on my wish list,” she admits, “but I spent many happy days at my brother’s apartment in the south of France. Our first visitors were two collared doves which landed on the balcony.
“I remarked to my brother that they were identical to the doves which often appeared in our garden at Drumoig. The seed was sown for a story and The Adventures of Arno and Sophie was born.”
Travels through France
Jennifer’s characters embark on a journey, leaving chilly Scotland behind, bound for the sunny French Riviera. On the way, they visit Paris and the Alps before arriving in Villefranche-sur-Mer.
The author feels that her style of writing has always been to keep everything simple and succinct which in turn lends itself well to writing for children. “In comparison I found writing a thesis for a Master’s in Medical Education absolute torture!” she laughs.
The Adventures of Arno and Sophie has been created with illustrations that young readers can colour in for themselves. “I wanted children to feel they owned the book,” explains Jennifer, “Being an educationist I wanted them to learn new information from the book, so on the doves’ journey from Scotland to France there was a lot to learn about the towns and cities they visited.”
French tit-bits
Aware that primary schools now offer a language other than English to their pupils, she felt that it would be appropriate to introduce some French words into the text.
With the storyline created, Jennifer sought the help of illustrator Jim Glen to bring her book to life. “Writing a book is very much a team effort” she points out and I was fortunate to have worked in the past with a brilliant illustrator in Jim Glen who was a former DC Thomson employee.
“I only had to give him a one line brief of what I wanted drawn and he came up with the goods every time. That was a real bonus for me. I also worked with Stuart Cameron (another former DC Thomson employee) who took my script and type set it for me.
Children can be the toughest critics
She also recruited the help of some young readers to help with the development of her book. “A group of children at St Ninian’s RCP in Cardenden were extremely helpful and gave me constructive feedback. They were keen to know where Arno and Sophie would visit next!”
Jennifer approached publishers Austin Macauley with her story in almost finished form and believes that this helped her first children’s story to be accepted. “I do believe that sending the book to the publisher in almost finished form made the job easier for the Editorial Board,” she says, adding that, “they were particularly pleased with the educational qualities of the book and the rest is history.
What’s next?
With such a positive reception for her debut, plans for the next chapter in the adventures of Arno and Sophie are firmly in place. “The publisher also indicated that they would like to have first refusal of my next work,” enthuses Jennifer. “Given that I have just sent them the script for the second book in my planned series when Arno and Sophie return to Scotland for a holiday with their French cousins, I hope they will give me the green light!”
She may have left medical writing behind but Jennifer has no intention of vacating her writing desk any time soon: “I don’t think age is a barrier to putting pen to paper and at the grand old age of almost 80 I feel I have a few more years to write and have fun,” she laughs.
The Adventures of Arno and Sophie by Jennifer Laidlaw is available now, £13.99.
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