Blog Archives
Not Enforcing Sameness
Rachael Higgins Author Interview
The Silver Tabby is a wonderfully illustrated children’s book about a kitten that struggles to fit in with the other cats. What was your inspiration behind this kids book?
The Silver Tabby was initially written as a high school English assignment. At the time, the class was studying the topic of myths and fairytales, and how the stories portrayed a message or lesson to pass on to the next generation. The assignment task was to write and illustrate a story that embedded a lesson relevant to our societal paradigm. In completing the assignment, I wanted to pass on the message that differences can be beneficial, and that no-one should be judged based on their appearance of being different. I was inspired by authors such as Beatrix Potter and A. A. Milne, with their use of animal characters to portray their stories. Having a love of animals myself, I wanted to use animals in my story to spread a message of hope, kindness, and reconciliation. I also followed the commonly heard writer’s advice of “write what you know” and incorporated some of my own experiences of being considered different, spending time alone; as a result, then receiving acceptance.
Over the years, since the original high school assignment, The Silver Tabby has been redrafted and revamped, but the inspiration and passion in telling the story have remained the same. I believe that passing on the message of accepting others for who they truly are, and not enforcing sameness, is an essential lesson to teach our future generations.
Are you a cat person or a dog person (I’m guessing a cat person)? Do you have any pets that this story was based on?
I would say that I am an animal person in general, not specific to being a cat person or a dog person. However, I have had both animals as pets in the past as well as guinea pigs, and most recently, rats. I’m the type of person who will go for a walk and rescue a lost or injured animal or will visit an animal shelter and want to adopt all the animals to make sure they have a happy, loving, and safe home.
When I originally started writing The Silver Tabby, I had a short-hair silver tabby cat named Silver who the main character of the book is based on. The real Silver was born from my families’ then neighbour’s cat, who had chosen the enclosed area where our hot water tank was stored, below our Queenslander-style home, as a warm, safe place to birth her litter of kittens. The kittens were a mix of tortoiseshells, ginger tabbies, and black furred kittens; Silver was the only silver tabby. Our neighbours called Silver’s mother, Mama Cat. Mama Cat would lead the kittens between our house and the neighbour’s; Silver would venture away from the litter and come inside our house and make herself comfortable while I read. I think Silver really ended up adopting me rather than the other way round.
I loved the illustrations in this book. What was the collaboration like between you and the illustrator Grace Elliott?
Grace is fantastic to work with; I would recommend any author seeking an illustrator for their children’s book to look Grace up on Instagram. Initially, I showed Grace a draft of the text and concept of illustrations that I had drawn years ago for the high school assignment; and later digitally remastered for a later draft. Then Grace worked her magic on the artwork for The Silver Tabby. I feel I made the right decision collaborating with Grace, rather than illustrating the story myself. Grace’s artwork compliments the text and sets the scenes of the story, bringing the characters to life, in a way that I couldn’t have done myself.
As an artist, Grace was willing to accept feedback and advice from other artists, as we amended drafts, and she shared my vision as the author for how the book might look as a finished product. Most of our collaboration was done online, as I spent a lot of the last year moving intercity and overseas, Grace was very patient and understanding throughout every pause and readjustment that was made during the production of The Silver Tabby. I am very grateful to have had Grace onboard for the project, and would gladly work with Grace again.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I have a couple of concepts that I am working on at the moment. Another illustrated book that poetically portrays the epic clash between Heaven and Hell. I expect this book will be available within the next year or two. The other concept is a romantic story of undetermined length, and availability, at this stage; although I anticipate the story to evolve into a novella if not a novel.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Instagram
![The Silver Tabby by [Higgins, Rachael]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51mbsDygzBL._SX260_.jpg)
The Silver Tabby is about a kitten named Silver who struggles with being different from the other kittens in her litter.
Then one day, Silver manages to become the same as the other kittens. Excited to meet a new friend, all the kittens play happily together. But, Silver’s disguise does not last long.
When the other kittens discover their new friend is Silver, will she still be accepted?
Treasure on the Southern Moor
Treasure on the Southern Moor is set in the eighteenth century, during the golden age of sail, and shows how gentlemen sailed the raging seas. Written by Joshua A. Reynolds, this historical fiction novel takes the faithful crew from Plymouth, to West Africa, and back to Plymouth, with only the guidance of an old map that was given to the captain by an old sea friend.
Back Description: The thrill of the sea – the song of the ocean winds – out sails and up anchor! – guided by the compass and stars – as a poet once said, “to the lonely sea and sky”. It is the eighteenth century, and the sailing vessel is the only way to travel the raging seas. The Southern Moor sets sails from England to Africa with a crew of forty-two persons, guided by a captain with his son and daughter, where those of the trusted crew hope to find treasure with only the guidance of a map an old friend of the captain’s had given him and a handful of the treasure itself, brought back from the African shoreline. With the smell of cooking from the galley, you may find them about on the weather decks reefing the sails or lashing down the ship’s boats, or listen to the captain play on his fipple flute with the accompaniment of the cello and violin. Hear the ocean waves lap against the bows, or have cataracts of sea water come flooding over the main deck in the midst of a raging storm.
In Plymouth, England, there are those few friends of the captain who wonder if he will ever return. Is the Southern Moor, newly finished vessel and never before tested in the ocean waters, strong enough to sail through storms and cannon fire to reach the warm lands of the African shoreline and make the same journey back? With all of its rectangular sails billowing in the wind, bowsprit brass tip of heather shining in the sunlight, and the polish of the wood shining without a fingerprint to be seen, the Southern Moor leaves the harbor of Sutton Pool to test itself in the ocean and plough the stormy seas. . .
Treasure on the Southern Moor is expected to be in print within two weeks’ time! Check out his website for purchases and updates.
Recommended for family reading. They were specially written for children but have something that all ages can enjoy.
Joshua A. Reynolds
Joshua A. Reynolds writes to restore Christian virtues and family values back into society. He is a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and holds to the reformed faith of Christendom. Russell Kirk’s conservatism most closely aligns with his political views, and his desire is to redeem the innocence of the “permanent things” in literature. One of his main goals in storytelling is to allow the reader to understand better theology, history, and more wholesome ways of living in a simple imaginative way. Some of the authors that have inspired his imagination are C. S. Lewis, Edith Nesbit, Frances Burnett, Mary Dodge, Beatrix Potter, Kenneth Grahame, and Lewis Carroll.
To find out more about Joshua A. Reynolds, please visit his website at www.conservativecornerstones.wordpress.com.
The Williams House
The Williams House is a story about eight children who live in a large country house and have all sorts of adventures through the timespan of one year. It is authored by Joshua A. Reynolds and designed to show the great imaginative world of simple, wholesome living. It is a family story meant to be read to children or enjoyed by adults and children alike.
Back Description: This is a story about eight children whose names are Lilly, Ann, Will, Johnathon, Timothy, Margaret, Susan, and Maria. They live in a very large and mysterious house where they have all sorts of adventures. It is a stone house on an old country lane, and it is not only the place where they explore, imagine, tell stories, sing, and play musical instruments, but it is also the place where they do school and study, and so you see, between the work and play, they became very familiar with the house indeed. Yet it never ceases to surprise them, how it can look in the moonlight, or on a rainy day, or with morning beams of sunlight flowing through its windows. Join them in the attic for a story on a stormy night, or find them in a park on a summer afternoon with the warm wind in their faces, or see them bent over candles as they look at old rooms and dusty shelves.
Friends of theirs are the Bentley family, who are allowed a peek into many of their family adventures. Find them all listening to birds sing while they look for buried treasure, or listening to bassets howl on an autumn night. Though there is a sad moment between them, it is also strangely filled with joy and contentment, as those who are filled with light cannot be anything else.
Perhaps the most exciting moment of all is when the Williams’ children find something on the basement landing of their home. The basement is not a place they are allowed to go to often, and the children have called it the cellar among their whispered stories, yet the discovery makes the cellar stairs a more easily traveled lane…
Recommended for family reading. They were specially written for children but have something that all ages can enjoy.
Joshua A. Reynolds
Joshua A. Reynolds writes to restore Christian virtues and family values back into society. He is a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and holds to the reformed faith of Christendom. Russell Kirk’s conservatism most closely aligns with his political views, and his desire is to redeem the innocence of the “permanent things” in literature. One of his main goals in storytelling is to allow the reader to understand better theology, history, and more wholesome ways of living in a simple imaginative way. Some of the authors that have inspired his imagination are C. S. Lewis, Edith Nesbit, Frances Burnett, Mary Dodge, Beatrix Potter, Kenneth Grahame, and Lewis Carroll.
To find out more about Joshua A. Reynolds, please visit his website at www.conservativecornerstones.wordpress.com.
LITERARY TITAN 