Meet Jacqueline Nicoll, Author of Born to Love Frogs and Oceans Calling
What inspired you to become an author?
I have loved writing stories since I was a child and enjoy the challenge of writing a story using poetry. I created Guided Visualisations for my three children and gradually became aware through their feedback how these were helping them to relax, ignite their imaginations and unlock doors to their own potential. Inspired by this, I began to re-write the Visualisations as stories for publication.
How did you come up with the idea for Born To Love Frogs?
We have a pond in our garden which is a home for many frogs. One spring after making a nursery to protect some of the new tadpoles from the fish, my son told me that he was ‘born to love frogs’ and the story grew from there. It’s a tale of a young boy who begins a quest to help rare and endangered frogs using his gifts and wisdom. He shares this wisdom and the world listens.
How long did it take to get Born To Love Frogs published?
I sent my manuscript to publishers all over the world. After nine months and many rejection letters, I received a wonderful acceptance letter from Pick-A-Woo Woo in Australia. It then took another year before the story went to print.
What inspired you to write Oceans Calling?
It was a combination of factors that gave me inspiration for the story. When my eldest daughter was little, she loved to play mermaid games and pretend she had magical powers. I have been an energy healer for the past 15 years and drew on some of my experiences for the book. Many scientific experiments have proven that water is closely connected to human consciousness and that our thoughts have an effect upon water quality. With some magical assistance, the hero in the story uses her power and loving intent to help heal the ocean.
Do you have a favourite topic to write about?
I love writing about nature, children, the magical realms and offering positive and inspiring messages in my books.
How many books have you written?
I presently have two books published and have written stories and poems for magazines, workshops and my website www.jacquelinenicoll.com.
What do you hope children will learn from your books?
It was once common place to see children play outdoors but modern lifestyles have lessened this connection. One of my greatest joys is seeing children connect to nature through imaginative play and outdoor projects. As well as the health giving benefits, it encourages a natural curiosity about the environment and encourages a healthy life-long partnership with the Earth. I hope that my young readers are inspired by the stories and beautiful wildlife illustrations. I wish for all children to thrive and reach their potential as adults. All children have talents and abilities and I hope that the heroes in the books encourage them to reach for the stars with their own dreams and aspirations.
Children’s authors don’t always get to choose who illustrates their books. Are you happy with how your illustrations turned out? Are the characters as you imagined them?
My publishers gave me six different illustrators’ work to study and I chose Gabriel Evans who was only 17 when he illustrated Born To Love Frogs. Gabriel is a talented award winning Australian artist and I instinctively knew he would create fantastic illustrations. It was wonderful to see his first watercolour drawings for the books, which have a timeless quality, and were very much like I imagined. Magic was definitely taking place!
Are you working on any other books?
I am always writing, it’s what I love to do. I currently have five different Picture Book manuscripts at various publishers around the world, with more on the way. I am also working on my first children’s novel
You can find out more about Jacqueline Nicoll and her books at www.jacquelinenicoll.com.
I have loved writing stories since I was a child and enjoy the challenge of writing a story using poetry. I created Guided Visualisations for my three children and gradually became aware through their feedback how these were helping them to relax, ignite their imaginations and unlock doors to their own potential. Inspired by this, I began to re-write the Visualisations as stories for publication.
How did you come up with the idea for Born To Love Frogs?
We have a pond in our garden which is a home for many frogs. One spring after making a nursery to protect some of the new tadpoles from the fish, my son told me that he was ‘born to love frogs’ and the story grew from there. It’s a tale of a young boy who begins a quest to help rare and endangered frogs using his gifts and wisdom. He shares this wisdom and the world listens.
How long did it take to get Born To Love Frogs published?
I sent my manuscript to publishers all over the world. After nine months and many rejection letters, I received a wonderful acceptance letter from Pick-A-Woo Woo in Australia. It then took another year before the story went to print.
What inspired you to write Oceans Calling?
It was a combination of factors that gave me inspiration for the story. When my eldest daughter was little, she loved to play mermaid games and pretend she had magical powers. I have been an energy healer for the past 15 years and drew on some of my experiences for the book. Many scientific experiments have proven that water is closely connected to human consciousness and that our thoughts have an effect upon water quality. With some magical assistance, the hero in the story uses her power and loving intent to help heal the ocean.
Do you have a favourite topic to write about?
I love writing about nature, children, the magical realms and offering positive and inspiring messages in my books.
How many books have you written?
I presently have two books published and have written stories and poems for magazines, workshops and my website www.jacquelinenicoll.com.
What do you hope children will learn from your books?
It was once common place to see children play outdoors but modern lifestyles have lessened this connection. One of my greatest joys is seeing children connect to nature through imaginative play and outdoor projects. As well as the health giving benefits, it encourages a natural curiosity about the environment and encourages a healthy life-long partnership with the Earth. I hope that my young readers are inspired by the stories and beautiful wildlife illustrations. I wish for all children to thrive and reach their potential as adults. All children have talents and abilities and I hope that the heroes in the books encourage them to reach for the stars with their own dreams and aspirations.
Children’s authors don’t always get to choose who illustrates their books. Are you happy with how your illustrations turned out? Are the characters as you imagined them?
My publishers gave me six different illustrators’ work to study and I chose Gabriel Evans who was only 17 when he illustrated Born To Love Frogs. Gabriel is a talented award winning Australian artist and I instinctively knew he would create fantastic illustrations. It was wonderful to see his first watercolour drawings for the books, which have a timeless quality, and were very much like I imagined. Magic was definitely taking place!
Are you working on any other books?
I am always writing, it’s what I love to do. I currently have five different Picture Book manuscripts at various publishers around the world, with more on the way. I am also working on my first children’s novel
You can find out more about Jacqueline Nicoll and her books at www.jacquelinenicoll.com.
Stacie Theis / beachboundbooks@yahoo.com / copyright 2012