A SURF Coast author is sharing big world stories with some of the region’s youngest readers.<\/p>\n
Stef Gemmill’s new children’s novel, The Ghost Horse of Snowy River, tells the story of a young girl who rediscovers her love of horses after losing her eye in a horse-riding accident.<\/p>\n
Inspired by her sister\u2013 who lives with monocular vision \u2013 Gemmill said the story speaks to the experiences of young people with disability and the challenges young people can overcome.<\/p>\n
Gemmill said she wanted to create a protagonist whose disability was part of their experience but not their entire character.<\/p>\n
Approaching real and complicated topics is something she does not shy away from in her children’s work.<\/p>\n
Trusting her young audience’s ability to understand the world around them is core to Gemmill’s writing ethos.<\/p>\n
“I love to write stories with high stakes and stories that might reflect a minority group or experience,” Gemmill said.<\/p>\n
“I am a true believer that children are very deep thinkers that sometimes have better ideas than adults.<\/p>\n
“The great thing is that children’s books create empathy and a greater understanding of the wider world.”<\/p>\n
Having children read the manuscript before it was published was also important to Gemmill to ensure that the book was hitting the mark.<\/p>\n
The feedback of her pre-teen readers was some of the most important.<\/p>\n
Consulting people with lived experience of disability was not the only thing that was essential in Gemmill creating an authentic tale.<\/p>\n
Though a self-confessed horse girl, Gemmill knew she needed to get out from under her desk and onto a horse again to help convey the experiences of her main character at a cattle station.<\/p>\n
With support from the Surf Coast Shire, she was able to spend several days in the Victorian high country, riding stockhorses and interviewing locals.<\/p>\n
“I highly recommend anyone that’s writing a book that is quite contemporary to immerse themselves in that experience or walk in someone’s shoes,” Gemmill said.<\/p>\n
“Only then can you really capture the setting, particularly with animals there’s certain things that animals do that when you weave them into a story makes it so much more authentic.”<\/p>\n
Gemmill said financial support for artists is essential in allowing upcoming and emerging creatives to hone their craft and create better art.<\/p>\n
Despite having several picture books already published, this was the first time she had been awarded funding and said it made her feel like a “real author”.<\/p>\n
Without it, she does not believe her book would be the story it became.<\/p>\n
While celebrating the launch of The Ghost Horse of Snowy River, Gemmill is already looking towards her next release.<\/p>\n
The first draft of the novel has been completed and features a young boy experiencing the culture shock of moving from the country to the city and the impact of his family becoming involved with social services.<\/p>\n
Like this release, Gemmill said the story does not shy away from the experiences that children across the country are experiencing every day.<\/p>\n
Gemmill’s The Ghost Horse of Snowy River, published by Wombat Books, is available now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A SURF Coast author is sharing big world stories with some of the region’s youngest readers. Stef Gemmill’s new children’s novel, The Ghost Horse of Snowy River, tells the story of a young girl who rediscovers her love of horses after losing her eye in a horse-riding accident. Inspired by her sister\u2013 who lives with […]<\/p>\n