mother book

A Morden resident is now adding published author to her list of achievements.

Sharla Kinsmen is well known in the community for her customer service at the Morden Co-op Grocery Store, but in 2010 she had some time at home and filled those hours writing a children's book called "My Mother Always Told Me". It took until May of last year to hear back from a publisher that her story would be published and illustrations for the story were already made.

The book is about a young girl and the advice she gets from her mother as she's growing up, and Kinsman says it's amazing how much her own mother influenced what went into this book.

"I often hear my mom in myself, in the things I say to my own daughter. I keep thinking 'wow, did my mom just say that?' It's crazy to realize how much I got from her that I never realized. Things I never knew I was learning from her as I was growing up."

She adds, the timing of the publication of this book was simply amazing as her own mother had passed away just weeks before she found out this book would be available to the public. We asked Kinsman if she has any advice for aspiring authors hoping to get published.

"Just try, you never know. Don't give up. Sometimes it takes four years before it gets published, like it did for me. Write what you feel and enjoy writing about, whether or not a publisher sees it and wants to publish it.  If you enjoy writing, continue to do it."

The book is now available for purchase at the Morden Co-op Grocery Store as well as online here.