Castlederg mum releases debut novel

WHILE some children’s authors choose to set their stories in weird worlds of their own creation, others look to their immediate environment as a source of inspiration.

In her new novelette, ‘Where Shall we Go?’, Alisha Walls hopes her readers will already be well-acquainted with the landscape within which her simple – but resonant – tale is told.

“This is my first published book,” said the Castlederg mother-of-five this week.

“For years, my husband and our kids have been driving around Northern Ireland and Donegal, trying to find the best places to spend a family day out. We have been to some great spots – some obvious, some less so – so I thought it would be worth trying to chronicle our adventures in an accessible, fun, colourful children’s book.”

It is said that everybody has a book in them. However, more often that not, getting it out is the problem. The experience that encouraged Alisha to search for the story inside her came when the world began to open up following the lockdowns. “It was one of the first times that we got away to the beach after the restrictions began to be relaxed, and I remember standing on the shore, holding the buggy, and thinking to myself, ‘I am never going to take this for granted again’.”

Soon after that, Alisha, who has worked as an NHS nurse for over ten years, began journalising more intensely, which would eventually form the source material for ‘Where Shall we Go?’”

“I studied English Literature at the Loretto Grammar School and always had a love for writing. My career choices were between teaching and nursing, and I chose nursing, but the love of literature never went away.”

When asked what she hopes her tiny readers will get from the book, she said it is a tale of ‘family, fun, loving where you live, and embracing who you are’.

“It begins with the family sitting around the breakfast table, deciding where they are going to go for their day away.

“There are lots of places that get a mention, all of which we have been to at least once,” said Alisha. Strabane’s ‘Tinnies’ get a mention, as does Benone, Rossnowlagh, Portrush and Dungloe.

“The book is full of places that will be very familiar to people from around our parts. The family talk about visiting the Peace Bridge and Guild Hall in Derry, as well as Belfast Zoo, the Titanic and the Giants Causeway.

“We also talk about both sides of the so-called ‘cultural divide’, and there is talk of both the Irish language and Orange marches.”