Adventuring guinea pig inspires childhood tale

Caroline, who has been in her Kāinga Ora home for 6 years since her eyesight started declining, is a self-published writer of a children’s book called Norman Guinea Pig and his big adventure, which is based on a true story.

The book is stocked in bookshops and other stores across Nelson Tasman, including Paper Plus, with Caroline selling 360 copies since it was published a year ago.

Caroline says the real-life version of Norman Guinea Pig lived with her family on a farm near Nelson and was a much-loved pet of hers from the age of 8.

“I named my guinea pig after my Uncle Norman, who was my favourite uncle. He was tall and skinny so I got a bit of flak for naming my guinea pig after him because Norman Guinea Pig was big and fat. Norman Guinea Pig always lived inside with us,” Caroline explains.

Norman Guinea Pig and his big adventure, which is aimed at five to eight-year-olds, is the tale of a guinea pig who is cared for by a little girl called Polly and feels lucky “to have a family who loved me as much as I loved them”.

One day he goes on a big adventure and gets lost, just like Caroline’s pet guinea pig did. “Norman was lost for 3 months and we found him in a culvert on the farm,” Caroline says.

Caroline, who worked in hospitality before retirement, said she was inspired to write her first book during the first Covid lockdown. “It’s my first piece of writing and it was just in my head. I’ve had a very busy life so I thought: ‘I must get it all out of my head’.

“I was up on the walking track near my house during the first lockdown and all the ideas were swirling around in my head. It was a Tuesday night and I thought: ‘Tomorrow, I’m going to write everything down’ and it took me an hour and a half once I got started.”

Due to her deteriorating eyesight, Caroline handwrote the book and passed it to a Blind Foundation volunteer who then typed it up for her.  After finding a local illustrator to bring Norman and the other characters to life in colour, the book was ready for Caroline to publish it. She has since done all her own publicity of the book, including approaching businesses to stock it.

Caroline has just finished writing another book and is now looking for a publisher for it. She also has ideas for another three books.

She says she still can’t believe what’s happened since deciding to take the plunge as an author.

“Sometimes you have to pinch yourself to believe that you can go from having no experience doing something to just doing it. It’s all about never giving up on your dreams.”