Author
Loss Loss rages unexpected as a bushfire it burns the water dry cardboard drops stick inside my blistered throat The world once upright overturned I walk legless and catatonic Even months from now after I have strained singlehandedly to push these monolithic buildings back into […]
Grace Grace knows Grace knows how to stack your vertebrae one above the other Align the spine when the haters cry to have you stooped and bent when all expect you to spit back the venom that was aimed directly at your good intentions Grace […]
About the book:
‘Ollie and the Starchaser’ is an adventure story set in Broome, Australia. It subtly explores grief and loss for children aged 8 to 12.
It’s hard for adults to talk about grief and loss, which makes it even harder for us to talk to children about how they may be feeling when losing a loved one or even a pet. Young children may not have the language to express their feelings, but they still feel them. I thought that creating an adventure story with subtle undertones of the theme of grief or loss could provide a scaffolding for such a conversation. Not wanting to be preachy or moralistic, I also wanted the book to appeal to children who may not have encountered loss but who enjoy an adventure story that has dogs, space travel and family as its main themes.
I have deliberately steered clear of religious connotations and have created a book that can be used to discuss loss whether you believe you are energy that has to return somewhere, or you believe in an afterlife.
So what’s it really about – here’s the blurb:
Nanoo is Ollie’s beloved grandmother and an astronomer who discovered the planet Terenza, in a gentle galaxy east of the moon. When Nanoo disappears on a trip to the Outback, Ollie cannot accept that she is gone. He is worried, sad and refuses to believe that Nanoo would leave him. He feels helpless sitting around on his farm with only his faithful Labrador, Chloe, to listen to his feelings. However, his luck changes when the Starchaser and his Star-fordshire Terrier, Buddy, plot a way to get to Earth from Terenza. The boys and their dogs begin an epic adventure to find Nanoo. Their journey takes them across the Outback, up the Steps to the Moon and into space. But will Ollie find her, and will he bring her home?
What’s next:
The creation of the book has had many twists and turns. There were things I did not know that day I sat down escaping the rain – that my daughter would complete Year 12, finish a degree in Psychology and then become the artist who has illustrated the book. Neither that a holiday in Broome would become central to the story development nor that I would learn a huge amount from getting a book into the world. And now I am planning workshops to help parents have difficult conversations with their children. All that from a rainy Sunday.
If you are interested in building resilience in either yourself or your children look out for my posts in the coming months and of course, I’ll let you know when the book is ready. I am so excited to bring this project to the world.
#grief #loss #family #ollieandthestarchaser #life #resilience #strongchildren #maketheworldabetterplace
Illustration credit: Jess Southey
Petrichor The wilderness was once visible a hooded darkness of caves and woods monsters concealed in logs or behind shadowy rocks A lonely place The wilderness is now invisible a place of tall buildings and people milling a proximity of connection but utter disconnection a […]
Empathy Don’t wrap me in your pity or stifle me with sympathy the lion’s roar may well seem silenced but it’s alive within my core Don’t smother me with platitudes or shroud me in condescension sympathy will only invoke my rage my wounds will scream […]
Abundance
It’s easy not to trust
to doubt that
all that you need
will fall into place
It’s effortless
to fall into the fear
and miss the signs
of the quiet blossomingWe are led to
believe that support
and love come in
large packages
with bells and whistles
and cards signed
by the entire cast
of your life
and perhaps
a celebrity hero
thrown in for
final
confirmationWe fail to see
that abundance
comes in small seeds
easy to dismiss
as flecks of nothingness
these tiny specks
that hold the light
need to be planted
in dense, dark soil
their code hidden from
the naked eye
but watered, nurtured
and nourished
they flourish into
massive oaks
of joyThe beginning
may not foretell
the grandeur of the end
that wisp of an idea
that glimpse of shy
inner knowing
that defies logic
can only
burst forth
and grow
when held
in the candlelit room
of your alonenessBe brave
go into yourself
embrace the silence
and in the gentle
rustling of your
own creation
you will find
the magic
of your intentions
manifesting the
abundance
your heart desires
© Tanya Southey
#52words52weeks
Sanctuary We are all fleeing from something even those who appear to be standing still Even those who are planted in the same spot as the moment of their birth these rare beasts who seem to be happily grazing on their less than green grass […]
Homecoming isn’t the same anymore the furniture has been rearranged and grief sits in your empty chair The spoon has leached its metal into my tea and the milk seems curdled even though it’s in the halcyon days before its use by date There is […]
Reflection
I hand-picked a
constellation
of stars and
hid them
in my heart
they shine
reflected on
the lake inside
my mindThis is the place
where you
will always live
even as the wild
geese cry in flight
even as the moon
rises on lonely
landscapes
and planes
take off
leaving a vapour
trail of all
we wished
to say
but didn’tAnd when
morning cracks
another sky
and all the stars
appear to fade
you’re still there
Venus rising
hanging near the moonreflected
© Tanya Southey
#52words52weeks
Soul Invisible and some say non-existent I know you are out there somewhere in a place where time has no clocks hovering over me wispy, wise benevolent When the opinionated ego with its petulant wounds withdraws its magic and sulks inside its bruises you nudge […]
Promise The shadows were long in the setting sun and you had kept all your promises to the ones you loved You had even honoured the ones to whom you only admired or less And yet You had broken many made to yourself Not the […]
Longing
You have wrapped
your desires
in an invisible shroud
of your longing
under layers
of regret
hidden tightly with
all your losses
shame and painYour hooded
vulnerability now
buffered from the wind
forges ahead
missing someone
you have never metWinter is
your safest season
skate over
the lake of frozen tears
stay on the edges
of your longing
near the guarded trees
and the reliable rocks
keep your eyes ahead
ignore the signs
that scream you are
belovedthe thaw will come
the cycle will complete
nothing is lost
when you let it go
© Tanya Southey
#52words52weeks
Thrive You are there though layers of adulthood may have concealed you But it does not take an archaeologist to unearth you chip below the psyche’s dust and there you are shy, sensitive child who could not watch a Western movie the fighting between the […]
Miracle When on grazed knees you sink begging for a miracle raise your eyes to the left and see the people in your life the random meetings in what were billions of statistical opportunities yet you stumbled on this one that holds your heart even […]
Forgiveness
In the darkest forest
of forgiveness
I forged a path
where one had
never beenI led you
to the edge
releasing youabsolving you
Not for your sake
but to free myself
to trust my heart again
© Tanya Southey
#52words52weeks
Prophecy What if you knew? Deep intuition that every fibre inside of you confirmed with every heart beat But there were those who used facts and science to pave over your wild, raw and unmeasurable knowingness What if you knew your prophesies could unseat the […]
Freedom It’s not the handcuffs or the prison walls it’s the silent glance hastening your compliance an eyebrow a tilt of the head assumptions you run beliefs long past their use by date keeping you second guessing in your own head the norms that form […]
Purpose
I was born on a
cold winter’s day
when the light
was fading and
the frost lay thick
and frigid high
above sea levelYou think
I can’t remember
but my cells doI know the moment
my spark entered my body
I know the moment I knew
what I was here to doIt was never spoken
Spoken can get broken
Sparks can set a bush fire
others don’t like raging fires
keep flames safely in the hearthI have kept the spark
tended it and
I know for sure
I am the one
I have been waiting for
© Tanya Southey
#52words52weeks
Permission The first cracks of light started on the inside thoughts that rubbed together and created a spark piercing through the dark armour I had been forced to don The cloak the mantle of the good girl the ‘Bless me father for I have sinned’ […]
Eternal The owl came last night it’s never been before the sliver of the waning moon hung right above my door the moss had grown beneath the rock you once stood on the gurgling creek still moved along the course it always knew the dragonfly […]
Retreat
You were always
striving
to find the pinnacle
the mountain
the river
the ocean
that would
make you
whole again
the elusive source
from which
you sprangThe external
the answer
in a book
in a face of another
and yet
it eluded youUntil
You turned
and took
one simple
inward stepWhere the vastness
of the retreat
to your own
stillness
fed the parched
desert of your longing
© Tanya Southey
#52words52weeks
Sonder This life I find so big is merely the backdrop of yours prop-like I am drinking a tea while you are in the café deep in life-changing conversation I am the extra in the movie of your traffic jam the one you sat next […]
Gratitude Such an easy sentiment to lean into on lazy summer days but the truth and its power is summoning it in the midst of pain The gratitude at a funeral having seen you just before you faded into memories Deep illness cracked open compassion […]
Whispering
In the babble of the world
the assault on your senses
ears tuned externally
it’s almost impossible
to hear your own heartbeat
Your own truth
suffocated by
the desires of others
and their ‘truth’
about you
spoken
so loudlyYet your heart never ceases
silently in your chest
echoing your deepest longingOn pale pink mornings
you should rise with the sun
find a rock
a beach or a tree
close your eyes
as the rays whisper
through the leaves
or dazzle the waterAnd listen to the story
your heart has waited
for so long to tell you
© Tanya Southey
#52words52weeks
Synchronicity There are times I am convinced parts of my soul slipped down to earth to play hide and seek with me This playful universe loves a surprise and waits hiding sometimes for years behind the curtains giggling like a child hoping to be found […]
Becoming Younger beliefs that I would in some magical year halt and form develop into a static person who had arrived and then remain cast in stone Become Now I see that each year starts in a haze with a shimmering light somewhere in the […]
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