Guest post by Darlene Foster dreamer of dreams, teller of tales.
When I was little, my dear grandmother gave me a colouring book filled with pictures of children from around the world dressed in traditional garments. I loved that book and while colouring each page, dreamt of visiting those fascinating places. Growing up on a farm in the Canadian prairies, we didn’t venture far.
When I was little, my dear grandmother gave me a colouring book filled with pictures of children from around the world dressed in traditional garments. I loved that book and while colouring each page, dreamt of visiting those fascinating places. Growing up on a farm in the Canadian prairies, we didn’t venture far.
My grade three teacher, Miss Roll, taught us about
exotic places, like Mexico. She gave us Mexican names, brought sombreros and
serapes into the classroom, played Mexican music and served Chilli Con
Carne. This further kindled my dreams of travel,
especially to Mexico. Miss Roll also noticed my vivid imagination and
encouraged me to write my stories down.
As is often the case, life happened. I got married,
had children, worked full time, volunteered, took correspondence courses,
attended the occasional workshop and dabbled in writing. I filled many notebooks
with short stories and ramblings over the years. The thought of being
published was a distant and, what often seemed to me, impossible dream. It
didn’t look like I was going to see much of the world either.
Those ideas that were sparked all those years ago still
flickered. I boarded an airplane for the first time when my second husband took
me to England to visit his family. You can imagine my delight when I
finally found myself in a country I had been reading and dreaming about for
years. We travelled back to England a number of times as well as to many other
interesting destinations, including Mexico. With every trip, I became as
excited as the little child who held that international children’s colouring
book in her hands.
When a friend took a job in the United
Arab Emirates and invited me for a visit, I jumped at the
chance. This amazing experience where I discovered a totally different
culture, unique scenery and so much history, inspired me. I had many stories to
tell when I returned home. Although I attempted to write these experiences
down, they just didn’t portray the excitement and feelings I had while there.
Then one sleepless night, I started to write the story from the eyes of a twelve-year-old. I based it on my experiences and a perfume flask I purchased while there, added some colourful characters and tossed in an adventure. It was fun to spin my story in a way that kids would enjoy while learning about another country. My hope was that it would entice them to explore new worlds someday. Amanda in Arabia-The Perfume Flask was born and eventually my dream of being published came true. My main character, Amanda, has since gone on to explore other places such as Spain, England and her own province of Alberta.
Still pinching myself to make sure I am actually a published author, I am so glad I followed my dream of travel, which led to a writing career. I will forever be grateful to my grandmother, my grade three teacher and so many others for sparking the flame, and for all the people in my life who fanned those flames and encouraged me to follow my dreams.
I believe it is our job as adults, to nurture the
young people in our lives to develop and follow their dreams. If we don´t spark
the flame, who will? As one creator of dreams come true once said, “If you can
dream it, you can do it.” Walt
Disney
Brought
up on a ranch in southern Alberta, Darlene
Foster dreamt of travelling the world and meeting interesting
people. She also had a desire to write since she was twelve. It wasn´t
until she was a grandmother that her short stories started to win awards and
were included in anthologies. She is the author of the exciting adventure
series featuring spunky 12 year-old Amanda Ross who loves to travel
to unique places. Her books include: Amanda
in Arabia – The Perfume Flask, Amanda in Spain – The Girl in The Painting,
Amanda in England – The Missing Novel and Amanda in Alberta – The Writing on
the Stone. Readers from seven to seventy plus enjoy travelling with
Amanda as she unravels one mystery after another. Darlene and her husband
currently live in Orihuela Costa, Spain. She believes everyone is capable
of making their dreams come true.
Books available:
Kobo https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/amanda-in-arabia
Dear Darlene, thank you so much for agreeing to write for my blog and for allowing me to share your photographs. It is
always a pleasure to welcome you here.
I am always happy to share interesting posts from fellow
bloggers or anyone wishing to try their hand at blogging. I prefer the posts to be about childhood,
hobbies, collecting or books but would consider other submissions. Please send
an email with your idea, and I will get right back to you.