The Blue Tier is a magical place.
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In a novel called Bluey’s Magical Adventure, author Ken Mackay breathes new life into the state’s North-East with the introduction of dragons, goblins, and gooberberry slices.
A relatively new author, Mackay was born in Launceston, however had spent much of his adult life in Canberra and New York working in finance.
Bluey’s Magical Adventure was inspired by stories Mackay would tell his grandchildren.
Mackay saw some interesting funghi balls while on the walk, and wanted to tell his grandchildren an interesting story about how they came to be.
It was then that the dragons were born.
“I had a professional career in finance, and as part of that I went over to the United States over 25 years ago and I stayed,” he said.
He said his family followed him over, with three of his children settling down in the US and having children of their own.
“I have eight grandchildren there,” he said.
After he returned to Canberra, he would send emails back to his grandchildren with photographs of the interesting places he and wife Pamela Burton would visit.
“The inspiration for the book came from a visit Pam and I did up to the Blue Tier,” he said.
“We went along the Goblin Walk there, and I took lots of photos of incredibly coloured lichen in the various pools of water around the walk.”
He sent the pictures back to his grandchildren.
“They replied back not wanting me to give them any sort of technical answer. They said, ‘can you just think of something interesting that caused it’,” he said.
“Somewhere out of my left-brain, I wrote a couple of emails saying if a dragon flaps down to the sea and eats too many fish, and if he gets a tummy-ache, the dragon will barf up green lichen balls.
“And, of course, if he eats little wriggly red grubs and little animals and things, he’ll barf up red balls.
“They loved the idea of dragons flapping around the Blue Tiers. They came back and said, ‘pops, why don’t you just write us a story about dragons?’
“That was the genesis of it all.”
Mackay began telling Burton his stories.
“I was telling her in the evenings these little anecdotes that I was writing back to the kids in America, and she was getting increasingly frustrated with me, saying, ‘for heaven’s sake, you’ve got all these wonderful ideas – why don’t you write them down?’”
One evening, Burton encouraged him to start writing down the key points.
“That lead to the creation of the first few chapters and rough drafts of the book,” he said.
“I first started writing about two and a half years ago.
“This is my first ever book. I am your genuine novice author.”
After a rough draft was written, the search for an illustrator began.
While on holiday at the Bay of Fires, Burton recalled an artist, Sue Briginshaw, who lived three houses up.
Mackay and Burton invited Briginshaw over for a meal.
“I said to Sue, ‘I’m writing books about dragons’,” he said.
“Sue sort of leaned across the table and said, ‘I can do that’.
“She asked that evening for me to send her by email the first few chapters of the book.
“At 11am the next morning, she knocks on our front door, she’s got her artists portfolio under her arm, she’s got her dog in tow. We sit down, and she’s done the three most incredible drawings – all of which are in the book.”
Briginshaw said that dragons were part of Chinese mythology, which had a connection to the Blue Tier.
“So, I always had a picture in my mind’s eye of what a dragon should actually look like,” she said.
Mackay said he and Briginshaw had a true partnership.
“Sue, in many cases, got ahead of me with her vivid imagination and drawings,” he said.
“The fabulous part about that was she’d send me a drawing, and I’d get on the phone and say, ‘what the heck is this’.
“We’d talk about it, and I’d say, ‘well, I really like that character’. She’d fiddle around with the character … and I’d write that character into the book.”
Mackay and Briginshaw said they hoped the setting of the book would help engage children living in the North-East of the state.
“It illuminates the importance of the North-Eastern corner of Tasmania,” Briginshaw said.
“We’re trying to engage the children in English, and we’re trying to engage them in drawing and all of those sort of techniques.”
Mackay said a sequel to the novel was in the works.
The Launceston launch of Bluey’s Magical Adventure took place at Petrarch’s on November 29.
A St Helens launch will take place on December 2 at the St Helens History Room from 3pm.
- Visit blueysmagicaladventures.com for more information about the novel.