A Russell Island author has built a world of magic and wonder through her book series to help kids learn and build the confidence to take on the world.
Lynda Nilsson decided to write the Mangrove Sands series after retiring from working at a school.
"I worked with kids on the spectrum for 17 years as a qualified counsellor and I missed the kids so much so I wanted to stay connected somehow," Ms Nilsson said.
"I wrote the first book in two weeks and all of my creative ideas just flowed, incorporating things I've learnt from the kids and things I taught them through an engaging adventurous fictional fantasy adventure.
"The kids were my motivation and they love it. All that matters to me is that the kids love it and they want to keep reading it."
The series follows four students from low socio-economic backgrounds who are visited by a pelican who takes them to an enchanted seaworld through a stingray hole.
They are tutored by dugongs who become their friends and mentors and help them learn to enjoy school.
In 2021 her first book won a Literary Titan Gold Book Award for unique writing style, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas.
She said she hoped to better engage students with reading materlial and help them learn.
"I lived in Sweden for five years so I wanted to incorporate that and I'd worked with Close the Gap and wanted to include some Aboriginal and multicultural aspects as well," Ms Nilsson said.
"There's also a hint of disability in each of the books, in the first one the little boy has dyslexia, and all of the characters have to overcome adversity."
She said she was always writing her books with her readers in mind and drew inspiration from her life in the Redlands.
"Each book has evolved and matured and they were written so my readership grows up with the books," she said.
"I'm always inspired living here. Parlow the pelican comes to visit me, I see dugongs every now and then and the whole environment and the kids have inspired me."
She is set to release the third book in the series soon and is already planning on writing a fourth.
The Mangrove Sands series by L. J. Nilsson can be bought online.
Emily Lowe
Redland City Bulletin journalist covering community, politics, crime and human interest stories. Griffith University Alumni.
Redland City Bulletin journalist covering community, politics, crime and human interest stories. Griffith University Alumni.
