Lauren, how does ‘Linda’s Busy Week’ mirror an aspect of your own family experience?
On the surface, the book covers health symptom and health practitioner vocabulary, as Linda takes her family members to different appointments. Finally, she sits down for a moment’s break – and sits on her own glasses. So it’s a gently humorous ending, as she now has to head for the optometrist.
However, the theme is that Linda is the unofficial interpreter for her family…and I grew up seeing my mother’s life dominated by that role. I only realised this as I was writing the book – I didn’t plan the book around this, but of course I grew up witnessing this as a norm.
My mother took all my grandparents to their appointments, and they would not have been willing to use an official interpreter, even if that was available. It’s a cultural thing, especially for adult children to look after elderly parents or in-laws. It’s more than just the language – when someone has only had a few years of education, they want someone known and trusted to help them understand the medical terminology and navigate the system.
This is a role that many of our learners find themselves in…
Exactly. Not just with medical issues, but with all of the complexities of living in Australia. If they’re younger learners, they face this role reversal and sense of responsibility. They often miss huge amounts of class time because they’re the person who has to go to the appointments, and they’re scrambling to catch up.
Then the adults may feel disempowered when their children have to interpret. I wrote about this back in 2022, so it was great to move from a blog post for teachers, to a resource where learners can see themselves reflected.
So the book has two uses?
Exactly. One is as an entertaining health story, to cover or review some medical vocabulary, at 5 different levels, from extremely simple to quite complex. The other is as a vehicle for discussion about the pressure of roles and responsibilities, if the teacher wants to go there. I also used Italian voice actors for the audio for this book, and that can lead to discussion about the validity of different accents, and being proud of one’s culture.
Why five levels?
I started with 4, but then I was asked for pre-Level 1. Many teachers have more than one learner level in the same class. In fact, when I started teaching an EAL class in a mainstream school, I had all levels in one class. That’s when I started creating differentiated texts. So the books have different levels, and there are also different worksheet levels. Everyone can work on the same story, but at their own level, and everyone can join in the discussion. Or learners might work on Level 2 the first week, then move up to Level 3 once they’re comfortable with the story. Or two classes might use the same story, but at different levels, then join together. There are so many options.
I love the age-appropriate nature of the resources…
That’s been a huge goal of mine. There are many aspects to consider when choosing resources, but age-appropriate is so important. I know that some readers will be young adult, while others will be adult, but I think that both can identify with this book, and with the others in the ESL Reads series. I think it’s essential not to be offering primary school resources, even if that’s a temptation…the language and the discussion points are going to be so different. And it’s so affirming for learners to see their own lives mirrored in the books they encounter.
There’s a limited range of reading resources for multilingual young adults…
True, and that’s why I began this writing journey.
Would you like to encourage more teachers from a migrant heritage to do this?
Of course, I want to encourage ALL teachers who want to write for our learners! At the same time, I think that migrant-heritage authors can bring something special to their writing that our learners may relate to; a cultural lens, a different perspective, family experience, a certain sense of identity.
In addition, if you’re multilingual (which I sadly can’t claim, as my Italian isn’t great), you can create bilingual or multilingual books. But I have to be honest, it’s very time-consuming to create resources. It can also be costly, unless you do all the formatting and illustration yourself – and then the issue is your time. It’s tricky, because the Australian market is so small that you can’t make sales in volume, which is why commercial publishers aren’t generally in this space. So you have to charge a reasonable amount, and people may feel that’s excessive.
So how could a new teacher-author navigate this?
I think if it’s done as a hobby, and maybe you have support with illustration, then it can be incredibly rewarding, to feel you’ve contributed a story that really resonates with learners and shares your lived experience. Or alternatively, look at getting some funding from a community body. Some government funding would be ideal, of course. It is hard to make it a profitable and sustainable business, but of course I don’t want to discourage anyone! It’s always great to see more resources available.
Digital or print format?
My feeling is that both are relevant. For my books, I have a digital read-along that learners can use any digital device in class, with their headphones and a printed worksheet. Then there are pdfs that teachers can print out, and a number of the books are now available as paperbacks, for libraries to stock for ‘at-home’ reading.
However, I’d say to new authors: consider digital to get started, as it’s easier to get out there and to get feedback on. Don’t worry about the add-ons like worksheets and mapping initially, as for me these grew organically after I wrote the stories and released them.
Think about distribution before you begin, so that you can decide what’s going to work for you. How will you get the word out? Also think about ownership of the intellectual property, if you wrote the materials in your workplace. This is an important issue, and you need to clarify before you get started, not after you’ve invested hours of time!
What kind of support would new authors need?
I’d say that all authors, new or otherwise, need to feel they have a network of support. So that could be ex-colleagues, other writers, people who’ve navigated different aspects of self-publishing, sensitivity readers for when you’re writing about cultures other than your own, editors…it’s important to have that team, even if the writing is your own solitary work. Again, just be careful about enlisting current colleagues, or asking them to trial your work, to avoid a conflict of interest issue. You need the proper permissions, making it clear who owns the work.
Don’t feel shy about reaching out to other teacher-authors and asking for advice, early on in the process. We all do this. [Clare: Yes, I know! I’ve reached out and asked for tips on marketing and formatting and online sales, as well as having some wonderful beta readers and editors.]
How can new authors choose topics?
Linda’s Busy Week came from my own family experience, but it also came from learners’ lives. I’ve learnt so much from the learners I’ve taught over the years, and chose topics that I thought could be both relatable and empowering, drawing on both experiences they could talk about, while providing some new information they could use to improve their daily lives. Then for my latest book (out soon) I put out a teacher poll. The most wanted title was one about beach safety, so that’s what I’ve been working on.
There are some other great beach and swimming resources out there, but my customers were asking for a beach topic, and I wanted to explore issues around fear and bravado. So as a new author, you don’t need to feel ‘it’s been done already’. Plus, sometimes a story is just what’s needed to contextualise other non-fiction resources!
If you’re self-publishing, you can also choose to write about things you’re passionate about, to keep the process fun. I’m very interested in health and wellbeing, so I wrote Jok Feels Stressed to illustrate how the stress response works.
You could look at what’s around, though, and see where there are gaps, and how these gaps fit with curriculum needs.
Back to that writing from your heritage – did you use other characters from your family?
Yes, but with permission and their input, of course. There’s a lot of fact-checking and clarifying so that you don’t accidentally set up some kind of cultural stereotypes, which is exciting because then you learn more about your family history.
Linda is my mum, although her real name is not Linda, and most of the characters in Linda’s Busy Week are from my family. I have one grandmother who is still alive, so my mum is still busy. Through this book, it feels wonderful to be able to pay tribute to my family’s experiences. In learning more about what life was like for them, it has helped me understand my learners and readers a little better! I’m including some photos to acknowledge and celebrate them!
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Yes, I think that growing up with a hybrid identity is an experience I’d like to explore in my writing. You’re living between two cultures, trying to embrace both. That’s been true for me on a small scale, but for our learners, there are so many other levels of this – adapting to a new life, dealing with the complexities of language, grieving the loss of the old life – it’s huge. I’ve written about this hybrid identity in a blog interview with a former colleague, Analia Solis from Argentina.
This is where your cultural heritage is such a superpower and I’m so grateful to have grown up in an Italian family, participating in important traditions and learning about the resilience of my ancestors.
Thanks so much, Lauren, and I second your encouragement to any would-be teacher-authors to get in touch! Great good wishes for your future writing!
