By day, Jennifer Heller works as an environmentalist at the Brown County Health Department, often visiting restaurants to check on their compliance with health codes. But in her free time, she’s been illustrating and writing children’s books.
“Lily Leaves the Brushy Patch: A True Story” is about a stray cat who found her way to Heller’s farm and then into her family.
The illustrations were done over a 20-year time period.
“The cats that are portrayed in the book both wound up living a wonderful life as barn cats on a property I owned at the time,” Heller said.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]“They both had their own back story, and then had more future adventures that I may wind up illustrating some day. This is a snapshot of a short time with a happy ending. We could all use a happy ending lately.”
Heller said she wanted to write a children’s book with a positive message.
“So much of what they see in the media paints the world as a dark, threatening and scary place,” she said.
“I wanted to show that there’s another side to life which has goodness and kindness as well. I have had some wonderful people in my life and found kindness in many many places.”
The book is available on Amazon now for $9.95.
Q: Have you written any other books?
A: I’m working on another one about a squirrel who lives on the Salt Creek Trail and working on a sequel to Lily’s story at the same time. I also have a project planned, but not started, for a Mole King.
Q: What’s your day job?
A: I am an environmentalist for the Brown County Health Department. I have a variety of duties including restaurant inspections, septic installation inspections, complaints and much more. I also am the vice president of the Indiana Environmental Health Association, a statewide association. There is always something unexpected in this job.
Q: What are your connections to Brown County?
A: I’ve worked in the county for about 18 years, initially for the chamber of commerce, part-time for the Candy Emporium for a year, and for the past 11 years for the health department. I’ve ridden my horses in Brown County since 1988.
Q: What’s your writing ritual? In what environment do you work best?
A: When I feel the inspiration and have the energy, I do the illustrations for the story that I initially wrote. I’ll sit down and scribble away. The drawings take, on an average, eight hours or so each, so that’s the real time consumer. I initially worked with a publisher on this book about Lily and she constantly had me looking for and changing inconsistencies in the drawings, such as the fence is on the wrong side from the last picture, etc. When you’re doing separate drawings for pieces of text, unless you make a conscious effort, it’s hard to be consistent throughout. I drew the illustrations for this book over a period of about 20 years, so the drawings changed from the onset and my style improved as I gained more in my pencil skills. The inconsistencies and corrections to finish the book took most of the time for the last months prior to publication. Ultimately, I did not use a publisher, but she did help me get the book in a publishable state on Amazon. It all depends on mood. Sometimes I really am inspired and other times the last thing I want to do is to sit and color in bark on trees or grass in the field. I start with a pencil sketch that I then ink in the sketch and then begin filling in the colors. The actual story goes very quickly from an idea.
Q: What’s the last book you read? Do you have a favorite?
A: I’d rather not say since I found it to be way more disturbing and more violent than I expected from the description. Two of my favorite books are “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle and “One Door Away from Heaven” by Dean Koontz, both with strong, brave female portrayals. I also enjoy anything by Dick Francis, Patricia Cornwell and Tom Clancy.
