For Chrissy Couper, the thought of writing a book was once pure fantasy.
Despite her passion for writing short stories since she was a child, the Flagstone resident struggled to put pen to paper due to her autism and dyslexia.
“I used to write all my sentences and numbers back to front. I’ve had a few struggles growing up with Asperger’s, learning disabilities and dyslexia so I had to find a way to get around having to re-read everything,” Chrissy says.
Following in the footsteps of her literary heroes Terry Brooks and J.K. Rowling, Chrissy has now published her first fantasy fiction novel.
Released under the name C.M. Couper, Alexander Hazard and the Mysterious Orb is the adventure of a boy tasked with delivering an orb in a magical world of alchemists and creatures such as giants and the Crow Goddess.
“I was sitting on my bed one day with a notebook and pen. I was just going to write down some of my goals in life, when suddenly I had this image in my head of an older man in his 50s with long brown and grey hair and a beard,” Chrissy says.
“He was sitting at an old wooden writing desk with a piece of old parchment in front of him drawing this object with earth, air, fire and water inside it and it was the key to time travel. I started writing it all down and that’s when I decided I was going to write a book about it.”
Chrissy says “lots of faith and will power” was the key to writing a book over the course of a decade.
“It took me over 10 years to write this book, I even had to get a text-to-speech application on my computer to read my words back to me because I can’t read properly,” Chrissy says.
Chrissy’s literary journey has been supported by staff from the Carinity Bunderra disability service and Carinity Fassifern Community Centre, both in Boonah. Chrissy says Carinity has “made me feel like I am a part of a family”.
“It is a wonderful feeling to feel Iike someone cares enough for you to help you be who you want to be and live how you want to live,” she says.
Chrissy hopes to inspire other people living with a disability to follow their dreams.
“No matter what your disability is, you can do what you want to do if you keep at it. If you have disabilities like me please don’t get discouraged, keep trying. You will be so proud of yourself when you achieve what you really want,” she says.
Copies of Alexander Hazard and the Mysterious Orb can be purchased online at barnesandnoble.com. For more information visit alexanderhazard.wixsite.com/alexhazard.