I would love to live my life like Matica, in my story. I don't have her disability, but other things. Matica is saying, and that goes for myself:
My name is Matica and I am a special needs child with a growth disability. I am stuck in the body of a two-year-old, even though I am ten years old when my story begins in the first book of the Talon series, TALON, COME FLY WITH ME.
Because of that disability, (I am saying ‘that’ disability, not ‘my’ disability because it’s a thing that happens to me, nothing more and because I am not accepting it as something bad. I can say that now after I learned to cope with it.) I was rejected by the local Indians as they couldn’t understand that that condition is not a sickness and so it can’t be cured. It’s just a disorder of my body.
But I never gave up on life and so I had lots of adventures roaming around the plateau where we live in Peru, South America, with my mum’s and dad’s blessings. But after I made friends with my condors I named Tamo and Tima, everything changed. It changed for the good. I was finally loved and accepted by the Indians. I am the hero now and I embrace my problem. In better words: I had embraced my problem before I made friends with my condors Tamo and Tima. I held onto it but I still felt sorry for myself and cried a lot, wanting to run away or something worse.
But would it have helped me? Would it have become better? Would I grow taller? No, nothing of that would have happened. I didn’t have those questions when I was still in my sorrow, but all these questions came to me later, after I was loved and was cherished.
One day I looked up into the sky and saw the majestic condors flying in the air. Here and now, I made up my mind. I wanted to become friends with them. I believed, if I could achieve that, all my sorrow and rejection would be over. And true enough, it was over. I was loved. I even became famous. (You can read all about it in the series) And so, if you are in a situation, with whatever your problem is, find something you could rely on and stick to it, love that and do with that what you were meant to do. And I never run from conflicts.
Her disability is her greatest strength
I myself, when buying a new book, look for the cover and title. If I don't like the cover, I won't buy it.
So, having said that, i am in the brink of changing all my covers of my 5 books. the covers were already too long, new ones will, hopefully, bring more sales.
I was and I am good with my hands.
In Germany I started to draw animal pictures with oil colours. I loved to see oil painting from the masters and thought, I could do that as well. I wanted to be actually a restorer for old oil paintings, but life didn’t direct me into that direction. When we immigrated from Germany to New Zealand on the big passenger cruiser Galileo-Galilei for 5 weeks, I started to draw animal pictures with pencil. Being then in New Zealand, and not really being master of the English words, I started a handcraft business. I created with the help of my husband wonderful colourful parrots, sleepy tigers, koalas. I sold thousands of them. People really loved them. When we became adoptive parents, of twin girls, I sold my business. But being creative and had to do something, I started cross stitch animal pictures.
And now, after we immigrated to Australia and was diagnosed with cancer, but survived with the grace of God, I started to write.
I actually never knew for sure what I wanted to be. In my early days, I wrote short animal stories. But nothing came out them. Then, I loved old oil paintings, I was really fascinated with them and so I thought I could do restoration of old paintings, since i was good in painting as well. But life didn’t let me do my dream. But after immigrating from Germany to New Zealand and then to Australia, I was diagnosed with cancer. I couldn’t go working, since i a had a lot of damage from the radiation. And having bad feed, I am not able much to walk, Albert my husband said, why not start writing? He had written down our adoption of our twin girls from Fiji. So I started to write short animal stories again. But this time in English. I have send them in for competition, yes, I was so brave, even my English wasn’t perfect, and still is not. I didn’t get the first price but was commended and inspired, that I go in the right direction. That gave me motivation to go on. And one of the short stories, was about Talon and Matica. There it came to me, I wanted to be an author and write more stories about Matica and Talon.
I wanted to let children and parents know, that they don’t need to suffer more than they already do, as i have suffered in my young life. So:
Children suffer from all sorts of afflictions and through my book they can learn how to coup with everything, as Matica did, the main character in my TALON books. She had to learn it in her early life. Children can find a “Condor†as Matica did. Not literally a condor, but every child or adult for that matter, they are battling with none curable afflictions, should find something that let them forget what is happening to them. Finding a “Condor†would help them to overcome that.
Parents can read my book to younger children so they can see that they are not alone, but that they can overcome it in a positive way, not in a negative way.
I say: Children with special needs or with disability, or are handicapped don’t have an illness, so there is no cure and it’s not contagious. They want what we all want, to be accepted.
My books are not only for children. As I said, adults face some illnesses as well, so my books are for adults as well as for children.
‘Sometimes the worst and greatest problems in life cannot be solved. They can only be outgrown.’ And I have been outgrown them. Many times, I might say.
I wanted to write a story about a handicapped or challenged girl to show readers what they can achieve if they put their minds not to the negativity but to the positivity. (As Matica had to learn it as well, and I have done nearly my whole life myself. Being rejected in school as well, I was always an outsider, keeping to myself in the shell of a turtle, had hardly any friends.) And since I love birds, I decided to let her have a bird. But then came, what bird?
I write for a wile now. but sometimes i am discouraged and stop, but start always again. One never knew what will happen next. I started to write, after i found out, that i was still under the living after cancer scare. first with short stories for competition. Yes, i was so bold and send them in. Got good comments back and that gave me courage to go on. I have published 5 books now. the sixth is ready to go to the editor. It's a series for young people to the old. With life lessons.
In the early 2001 or 2002. I had a great idea for a ghost town story. I kept writing and felt like the story was creating itself like a movie. I could feel the characters. For example, I was walking with the character on their journey in the ghost towns of the west. I called this book "The Boy's Adventures Through The West." Later on many years ago after I wrote this story I added wild west to the end of the title. I was interested in writing stories in general English classes. I never took on writing till I wrote my ghost town story. I wrote stories off and on ever since.
I went to SNHU for over 4 half years in 2013. I got my BA degree in Jan 2019 for Creative Arts; Creative Writing, English and specialized in screenwriting is in my school transcripts. In 2013, I started to write more stories. In 2006, I started to write poems, songs, stories for my kids, family to help inspire them and to help other people too. I love to write fiction adventure multie genre stories for all ages from children, teens to adults. I wrote two scripts, when I went to SNHU and my full feature script WON awards in 2017 and 2018. Last year I started to transfer my ghost town story into script. Help inspire fun reading can help increase courage on any adventure is like a movie. Learn more @ www.irenejane.com
