Alumna turns bedtime tale into debut book

For alumna Lauren O’Connor-May the inspiration for her recently published children’s book, Dream House Adventures, began in the quiet moments of a cherished bedtime routine.

The mother of seven says she and her daughter Verity used to do collaborative storytelling at bedtime and one night Dream House Adventures was born.

“…she asked me to tell her a story about a house. As I narrated, she became very quiet and listened more intently than she ever had before. Eventually she fell asleep and by the time I got to the end, I realised that I'd pretty much been telling the rest of the story to myself because she was already in a deep sleep.

“I was curious as to why this story had kept her so engaged so the next morning, I told it to my other daughters. It started a debate between them about whether the house was really magical or not and the discussion got quite heated. I realised then that this idea that we'd dreamt up had some potential and I typed it up and sent a manuscript to publishers.”

O’Connor-May hails from Mitchells Plain and studied journalism at Peninsula Technikon. She has fond memories of her days at the Bellville campus.

“There are so many [good memories] but I think the biggest thing for me was finding my tribe. I loved being in an environment where everyone was good at the same things as me. In the beginning it was humbling to realise that I wasn't as wonderful at the things that I was best at as I thought I was.

“But once I got over myself, I enjoyed the stimulating conversations and having so many common interests with people.”

Her book draws from her own family experiences.

“I have folders and folders of pictures of family adventures and some of them the illustrator used to style the drawings in the book. My kids love to bury each other in beach sand, like the sisters in the book do, and we've also made trips up Table Mountain.”

Asked how she juggles a busy household with seven children, her career as a journalist and being an author and what motivated her creative pursuits, she replied:

“This is always difficult to answer because it is not something I am doing consciously. As life changes, we naturally adapt and as our family grew, we adapted. So, how long is a piece of string? There definitely were some moments where I only survived by God's grace and during those times, the support of my family and the busyness of having a large family and a job, kept me grounded and moving forward.

“I also found that the less time I spend on screens, the more organised and creative I am.”

*Dream House Adventures is published by Lapa Publishing, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa. The book is available in English and Afrikaans.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
Email: Frederickskennediji@cput.ac.za