Author takes leap of faith with books

Siobhan Foster hopes her books will help other people. Photo / Stephen Parker

Writing has served as comedic relief and therapy for local author and speaker Siobhan Foster.

She is holding a double book launch for her joke book The Leprechaun Made Me Write This, and her autobiography So You Think You Know Me in Rotorua on Thursday.

The Ireland-born author, who is also an intuitive massage therapist, said humour had always been a part of her life, but she was new to writing.

"It's ironic because if you tell jokes in Ireland nobody cares but here they think it is marvellous.

"I have had jokes for a while, I think sense of humour is quite important, and the other thing is I was massaging a lady and she was a bit psychic and she said I should write, and I said, "well I've done a bit of poetry".

"She said I should ask my guides to write so I gave it a try. She said you had to do it last thing at night or first thing in the morning, and I sat down to write and soon I had one-and-a-half pages.

"You know when you do something you really love, you have that feeling?"

Her autobiography tracks her life growing up in Ireland to her life in Rotorua today.

She said she told stories to people she massaged and thought if she wrote an autobiography her tales would reach a wider audience.

"I was brought up in an emotionally challenging, non-nurturing environment.

"Perhaps I can reach a greater audience, and show the vulnerable side.

"It's a risk ... but life goes on, the sun will rise."

She said she hoped other people would be able to take something from her autobiography.

"It's my voice; this is my life through my eyes. It was an amazing sense of relief getting it down and out of my system. I hope it will help other people."

Siobhan Foster's double book launch will be held on Thursday at 6pm at the Rotorua Library.