Aspen Hills resident shares her inspirational story with the CHRONICLE

A conversation with Jolene Raison

JOLENE Raison always wanted to write, specifically children’s books. She published her first children’s book four years ago.

“As a writer, to actually put your writing out there for everyone to see is just so difficult. It takes time to build up the self-confidence to do it, and it has been a big learning curve.”

Today Jolene is the director of Robot Paint, Hardware & Timber and author of two children’s books, with another one about to be published.

She has over two decades of experience working as a wordsmith, and has written as a copywriter, journalist and general right brain for hire.

Jolene has lived in the South of Johannesburg all her life.

After school she spent a year in Israel, working in a restaurant where her interest for studying Hebrew was sparked. Upon her return, she completed a BA language degree, majoring in English and Biblical Hebrew.

From there she studied linguistics and copywriting and is currently in the process of completing her master’s degree in linguistics through Unisa.

Writing about vitiligo

Jolene always wanted to write a children’s book about vitiligo. Vitiligo is a condition in which the pigment is lost from areas of the skin, causing whitish patches, often with no clear cause.

She decided to write a children’s book about vitiligo for children and for adults. Jolene was diagnosed with vitiligo at five years old.

It’s a challenging condition to live with, from avoiding the sun to having to explain to other children and adults what it is.

It certainly makes one self-conscious and it is a difficult condition to live with.

“People think in metaphors and we respond to metaphors because with just a few words you can actually convey so much.”

Jolene relates a story to the CHRONICLE about getting a Valentine’s Day card at school from a little boy that said: “Everyone thinks that you are ugly, but I think you are really beautiful”.

“It was the first time I remember thinking: Is this thing I have a problem? It does make me different.”

It seems people either struggle with it so much, or they get to a point where they think it’s fantastic and they do not cover up, and Jolene has certainly found her freedom in this.

I don’t have to fit in

“If you stand out, do a good job of standing out,” she said.

She has never had any kind of desire to fit in to society.

“For me, in the end, it was a real blessing. I haven’t worn make-up for over 15 years, it just does not matter to me,” she added.

Even so, it’s been a difficult path to walk and thus her passion lies in writing books for children because life will always have its difficulties for each of us.

A passion for children

Jolene has written two children’s books that specifically dealt with the problems that all children face.

She believes children need a mental place to go to when life hurts, and for them to know they are not the only ones struggling with difficulties.

“Children have a need for a world that isn’t this world.”

Jolene’s books are available on Amazon or directly from her. She can be contacted on jolene@fishingforstars.co.za

A little more about Jolene’s books

The Vitiligo Spotter

There’s a spot spotting monster on a mission to spot the spots on Cinnamon’s skin. Or at least that’s how it seems to her when she’s out and people keep staring at her vitiligo. Can this plucky little girl outrun the Spot Spotter and escape all those eyes? Maybe what starts out as scary chase, could turn into a spot of fun.

Dear Mupstix, Love Lost

Lost is, well, lost. When she found a hole in her bedroom floor, she had the best plan: hide her toys inside the hole, instead of tidying them away. But the plan went wrong.

The hole was hungry and after it sucked in her toys, it sucked in her mom, then her house, then the whole planet with her on it. Now Lost is on a desert planet somewhere, lost and alone.

She starts writing letters and sending them out, hoping they’ll get to someone who can rescue her.

The letters find their way to Mupstix, a girl who spends her breaks alone in the Lost and Found room, and whose only friend in her new school is an invisible elephant named Bum.

The story is told through the letters exchanged between Lost and Mupstix, in a world where tinfoil and snails are collected like treasure, and home isn’t necessarily where you thought you left it.