Mum wins battle with dyslexia to write novel
| Posted: February 19, 2014
- A DYSLEXIC woman who was told she was "useless" by her schoolteachers has just published her first book.
Lynne Hale, was constantly reprimanded at school for being "lazy" as she found reading and writing a struggle because of her condition.
But the determined author is now celebrating the completion of her first book – The Intrepid Pony Escapes – which is published next month.
Mrs Hale, who also suffers from a co-ordination condition called dyspraxia, says her learning difficulties were left undiagnosed.
She explained: "I just couldn't understand how some children could do things that I couldn't.
"I remember sitting in school writing as hard as I could and only handing in two pages when everyone else handed in six. I was like 'how did that happen? Why?'
"I had grief from my teachers all the time and, to be honest, writing a book was the last thing I wanted to do."
In 2000 Lynne suffered a terrifying fall in Weymouth where she plunged 12ft onto rocks, and she decided to write about her life for her children.
She explained: "I was on a level sheet of rock at car park level when my foot slipped and I slid sideways into a 12-foot-deep gully. After being rescued by helicopter I decided I would write things down for my family to remember.
Although my neck landed between two sharp rocks I escaped with only a broken arm as my handbag had slid behind my neck. My young daughter later said it was as if an angel placed it there as without it my neck would have broken.
I started writing immediately but with a busy job and children my progress was slow."
Between writing, Lynne enjoyed her role as a teaching assistant for a school in Chiddingly, Lewes, but was made redundant in the summer of 2012 .
She used her redundancy money to fund the novel.
"I loved my job – I could really relate to those children who found things difficult," she said.
"But the redundancy money gave me the opportunity to write my novel."
She added: "I first started riding when I was 11 and I have read many pony adventures over the years and I thought 'I could do better than that, I had better adventures on my pony' so I did."
Lynne has two daughters Sarah Lou, 30, and Chelle, 27, plus three grandchildren.
She lives with her husband Paul, a retired civil servant.
Lynne's book, published by Gibson Publishing, is being launched at The Bookshop, in East Grinstead High Street, on Saturday, March 1 at 11am.
The 210-page novel is aimed at young adults and describes some of Lynne's childhood adventures with her pony.
But the determined author is now celebrating the completion of her first book – The Intrepid Pony Escapes – which is published next month.
Mrs Hale, who also suffers from a co-ordination condition called dyspraxia, says her learning difficulties were left undiagnosed.
She explained: "I just couldn't understand how some children could do things that I couldn't.
"I remember sitting in school writing as hard as I could and only handing in two pages when everyone else handed in six. I was like 'how did that happen? Why?'
"I had grief from my teachers all the time and, to be honest, writing a book was the last thing I wanted to do."
In 2000 Lynne suffered a terrifying fall in Weymouth where she plunged 12ft onto rocks, and she decided to write about her life for her children.
She explained: "I was on a level sheet of rock at car park level when my foot slipped and I slid sideways into a 12-foot-deep gully. After being rescued by helicopter I decided I would write things down for my family to remember.
Although my neck landed between two sharp rocks I escaped with only a broken arm as my handbag had slid behind my neck. My young daughter later said it was as if an angel placed it there as without it my neck would have broken.
I started writing immediately but with a busy job and children my progress was slow."
Between writing, Lynne enjoyed her role as a teaching assistant for a school in Chiddingly, Lewes, but was made redundant in the summer of 2012 .
She used her redundancy money to fund the novel.
"I loved my job – I could really relate to those children who found things difficult," she said.
"But the redundancy money gave me the opportunity to write my novel."
She added: "I first started riding when I was 11 and I have read many pony adventures over the years and I thought 'I could do better than that, I had better adventures on my pony' so I did."
Lynne has two daughters Sarah Lou, 30, and Chelle, 27, plus three grandchildren.
She lives with her husband Paul, a retired civil servant.
Lynne's book, published by Gibson Publishing, is being launched at The Bookshop, in East Grinstead High Street, on Saturday, March 1 at 11am.
The 210-page novel is aimed at young adults and describes some of Lynne's childhood adventures with her pony.
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