Author Spotlight: Lynn Emslie, author of “Jasper and Milo” series
Lynn Emslie, author of the Jasper and Milo series, has always enjoyed writing. As a young woman, she wrote many poems and had several published.
She studied English Literature at Advanced level and passed an additional Creative Writing option but as she entered the world of work and started to develop her career, the only writing she produced was work-related. This writing focused on event/report synopses, project briefings and reports. As her career progressed, she wrote and co-wrote papers which were published in various journals and she produced/oversaw the writing of many guidance/policy documents.
She also edited and proof-read documents for colleagues across a range of subjects. In recent years, she has written or co-written briefings for Government Ministers and formal responses to Parliamentary questions as well as national reports and articles for UK and international publications.
The writing of Jasper and Milo’s New Home came as a complete surprise both to her and all who know me. It was not planned or intended. She always thought she would, one day, write something but, when she adopted two older dogs, in an emergency situation, one weekend, she had a reason to set words on paper to tell the story she did not know. It was a way for her to accept the dogs and an attempt to understand their lives to-date and the issues they had potentially faced.
The words flowed quickly and soon she began to appreciate that Jasper and Milo could explore issues and feelings which others may benefit from. Keeping a simple story but one that can elicit empathy and a greater understanding seemed to be the approach she needed.
Many people have questioned how she moved from a style of writing that demands succinct and accurate use of language into a simple story for children. Well actually, the skills needed are transferable; in-order to convey a story in a few simple words, so that not only the young reader can understand and create their own imaginative mental images, but the illustrator has to be able to interpret it too! Luckily, so far this has not been an issue for her.
Jasper and Milo have now established themselves as characters. The series will be released soon by Author Reputation Press.
