Glenwood author pens debut children’s book

GLENWOOD author, Nicole Rimensberger, has self-published her first children’s book, entitled Witchfield, an adventure story with a magical twist, a project which has taken her a decade to complete. The book will be officially launched in Durban next week.

Nicole describes herself as more of a reader than a writer, and that she always had her nose buried in a book as a child.

“I personally believe there is a particular magic in children’s books; there’s a fantasy element, the idea that anything can happen. This drew me to write a children’s book of my own,” she said.

Nicole admits she has been writing for a long time and has says it has become a passion, a comfort and a joy. Besides her stories for children, she has also written two adult novels which she hasn’t finalised. The idea for Witchfield came to her about ten years ago.

“The title came to me first, then the characters, Katie, a rational and ordinary child who was faced with a mother who was the complete opposite of her, and Themba, a boy with big glasses and big ambitions.”

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“The story began knocking around in my head at that time and then life happened and the manuscript sat in the proverbial draw for four years. I would take it out, work on it, think how terrible it was and put it away! I worked on it in bits and pieces in the extreme margins of the day, as I have a day job and two children to take care of. I decided to self-publish and found a local illustrator and author, Cristy Zinn, who did an amazing job on the book, which gave me a mental boost,” she said.

Nicole said one thing which appealed to her about Witchfield was that South African children would see a story which was familiar to them, and which reflected their lives and landscapes.

“I am not trying to intentionally fill a gap in the marketplace, the story came first, but there is definitely a gap in South African children’s literature for children aged between eight and 12 years. There is a rich heritage of adult stories, but what is lacking is literature which is ‘just for fun’. I hope children will want to read this book and will have fun reading it,” she said, adding that her reward in the first place was to get children reading, something she is passionate about.

“From a work point of view, as a lecturer at Embury Institute for Higher Education, teaching children’s literature is a passion of mine as I train student teachers. Through this, I hope to open up to my students the magical world of children’s literature,” she said.

Nicole is currently working on a new book with Cristy, entitled Tilly and Thandeka’s First Adventure, with the aim to create a South African appropriation of Enid Blyton’s adventure stories, focused at children aged six to eight years.

“I’m quite excited about this new project!” she said.

Nicole will launch Witchfield on 3 April at the Natural Science Museum Hall in KE Masinga (Old Fort) Road from 9am to 1pm. The launch will take the format of a facilitator doing a coffee table chat with her and other authors who are also launching their books. She will be the only children’s author there.

She has also been offered an author kiosk at Articulate Africa at Durban Exhibition Centre on Friday, 12 April from 1pm to 4pm where she will interact with the public and sell her book at R100. Entrance is free.

Witchfield is available at the KZNSA Gallery Shop and via Instagram: @hellotypewriter_ or Blog: hellotypewriter.blogspot.com.

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