As part of the blog tour for Dinosaur Pie, I am delighted to share a guest blog from Jen Wallace about her debut!
Never too late to debut
By Jen Wallace
Hello, I’m Jen Wallace, author of Dinosaur Pie.
I’m a debut children’s author and I’ve just turned fifty. To you twenty and thirty somethings, fifty might seem old and far away but getting here happened very quickly and took me quite by surprise.
Am I too late to start a career in children’s literature? No. That’s utterly ridiculous. Never too old, never too late. I’m in that season where my kids aren’t so small anymore and I’m ready to go out in the world a bit but my needs and capabilities are now very different from my time before children. I’m a carer and likely to be for a few more years and so I write in those spare moments in my day and do events and workshops when himself can hold the fort at home.
I do not take any of this for granted, I wrote my first kids book in my early thirties and sent it out just before my first child was born, so I’ve taken a long time to get this far. I really appreciate it all, every kind review, all the support and guidance I get from those more experienced than me, the opportunities that have opened up for me. The children’s book world is absolutely lovely, everyone I’ve met has been incredibly encouraging.
Being fifty means I’ve lived a lot and had some great life experiences. Years working with kids and raising my own. Years as a youth worker, sports coach and nature guide. Years living life fully as only an ADHDer can. I am always interested in learning new things and maybe I’ve collected the wisdom of a few life lessons on the way.
Being fifty also means I have been writing for a very long time. Writing is how I process things, how I deal with the tricky stuff and how I communicate my joy. Life would be impossible without writing.
Books, there have been so many wonderful books that have changed me, comforted me, challenged me.I have read thousands of books and hundreds of children’s books.They have deeply enriched my story well.
I love to play with silly stories and to imagine the most ridiculous outcome of any situation. It helps that my sense of humour never grew up (much to the embarrassment of my own children) and I find it hard to take myself too seriously. It might be the ADHD, many of my neurokin attribute their youthful outlook on life to ADHD. Which is maybe why I have always found doing things with children immensely enjoyable. Kids are a lot more fun to be around than adults most of the time and having an opportunity to share my stories with lots of children is an incredible privilege.
Dinosaur Pie is about so many things. It is primarily about kindness and friendship and muddling through together when things get tricky. I also wanted to write a story like the ones I enjoyed reading with my kids, a funny story with a gentleness to the humour. I’ve tried to make it accessible as possible with short chapters and a good pace. Alan O’Rourke’s wonderful artwork and the care Little Island has taken with fonts and layouts means it is a book that can reach many different types of readers.
I am delighted to be at a stage in my life where I can really enjoy exploring and being part of this wonderful world of children’s books and I hope to be writing stories for another fifty years.
My Shelves Are Full 