Writing about disability

My book Little People Big Lives was published in 2013. I self-published it because I was pretty sure no publisher would take it on. The topic is too unusual ­– profiles of people who are short-statured (little people) and information about dwarfism.

While I was going through the process of publishing the book I often asked myself: why am I doing this? I knew the answer: I wanted to produce a book for the people I had interviewed. I owed it to them: Johno––proud of his medals from the World Dwarf Games; Margherita ––an orphan and a battler for rights (for women and for people living with disability); Rose––founder of the first Australian dwarfism support group back in 1968 and still going strong after many surgical operations. And the rest of the wonderful people who told me their life stories.

When I was interviewing these adults I started to get ideas for children’s fiction books. I’m now writing them and about to self-publish again. I’ve pitched them to many publishers in Australia and the UK. The trade ones said: Go to educational publishers. But the educational publishers commission their own works. So I have no option but to do it myself ––again!

I’m sure there is a need for books like these. For example, Stella Young (who is profiled in Little People Big Lives) wrote in her now famous Letter to my Eighty-year-old Self that when she was growing up she desperately searched for characters she could truly relate to.

Wheels of Fire features a girl who is a wheelchair user. Basketball Tree is about a short-statured boy who desperately wants to be a basketball player. Their difference is not the main point of the books, their adventures are!

I have solid writing credentials and three of my short stories for children are published already. They can be found online – in Short Tales, Short Tales for Kids and Ziptales.

An educational publisher has congratulated me on the authenticity of my language and dialogue when writing for children. And my author-mentor has endorsed the stories. Everyone who reads my drafts congratulates me and assures me they are needed––in bookshops and on library shelves.

Children’s books need illustrations and they cost money. Children’s books cannot be overpriced. This project is proving to be quite expensive and I’ll crowd-fund to cover costs. I hope you’ll agree to donate towards it in the coming months. I’ll keep you posted.