A BUSINESSWOMAN turned author called on her childhood memories in Gainford as inspiration for a debut children’s book.
Tracy Shepherd left her well-paid job in the corporate world last year to go into time writing full time and has now produced her first novel, Nattie Boggs and the Wonky Wishing Well.
A former pupil of schools in Gainford and Staindrop, Ms Shepherd went on to study international business and French at Aston University, and later completed an masters degree at Loughborough.
A career as a senior leader in large corporations followed for the next 25 years.
She said: “I left last year. I was really just burnt out.
“The lifestyle wasn’t one that fostered a creative spirit and I didn’t like how people treated people in that setting and thought maybe I have more to offer the world and myself than making someone else profit.
“My happiness barometer has gone from zero to hero since I left.
“The writing makes me happy. A simpler life can be the best life – for me anyway.”
The product of her new creative path is Nattie Boggs, a half angel, half fairy being, who lives in the fictional village of MerryBent Row.
Ms Shepherd said: “I drew a rough map of the village [Gainford] from memory and renamed all of the areas for the fairy world but kept the main parts how I remembered them.
“They include the spa, the GP surgery, the church, and the river. I added a few extras – tunnels and a wishing
well.
“I built her life and her world around the village with some artistic licence and all of the characters therein.”
The first in a series, the book sees Nattie and her friends investigate why the wishing well has stopped working. She gets the blame for breaking the well and sets out to clear her name.
Although the author now lives in Hartlepool, she frequently returns to her childhood village and says “nothing is like Gainford”.
The 49-year-old is now working on a Christmas special called Nattie Boggs and the Yuletide fairy.
She has 50 copies of her book with a misprint on the cover which are being made available free to libraries, schools, playgroups or churches in the Teesdale area.
Groups interested can contact Ms Shepherd by email at tlwshepherd@hotmail.com.
For more information, search for Nattie Boggs on Facebook.
Nattie Boggs and the Wonky Wishing Well is available through amazon.com.
