Ms Somervell tells a class at St Mary's about her books based on childhood memories of being a farm kid.
Ms Somervell tells a class at St Mary's about her books based on childhood memories of being a farm kid.
One writer is turning her memories of growing up on a farm into story books.
Jennifer Somervell grew up on a Hawke's Bay dairy farm in the 1970s.
She said her late father was a storyteller and was always doing funny things.
Now, she has five books published, all based on true stories from her childhood.
Last week, Ms Somervell, from Canterbury, was visiting schools throughout Otago as part of the release of her new book, Uncle Alan's Stinky Leg, and hoped to inspire country children to write their stories, too.
What sparked her to follow through with her writing aspirations was her mother passed away. She also was a writer and had aspirations to write a book, but never did.
''I sort of felt like I should do it.''
In 2006, she wrote her first story, The Day Dad Blew Up the Cowshed, as a poem during a nine-hour car drive.
But it was not until her father became unwell that she decided she needed to publish it before he passed away.
''I discovered my sister wanted to paint and wanted to illustrate it ... we made a commitment and published it in 2012.''
She said it was a big risk and cost $8000 to publish 500 books.
''We didn't really know if it would sell.''
However, it was a success and they have since printed 6000 more copies.
Ms Somervell said the stories were all very special to her and it was great to see them come to life in a way children could enjoy. ''The rural schools totally get the stories.''
She said she enjoyed being able to capture children's imaginations and show them that things that happened in their day-to-day lives could be turned into a story.
After many years of doubting herself and questioning whether she would be successful as an author, Ms Somervell's advice to others was to follow through with their passions.
''Be confident in your desires to do something and give it a go.''
