Claudia White

I’ve been a day-dreamer all of my life. Lucky I was since all our family holidays when I was a child involved long hours of driving with nothing to do but stare out at the passing landscape. It wasn’t unusual for my Dad to map out a trip where we would travel at least six hours a day, seeing the sights and learning the history of the western US and Canada from our big comfy car. In those days we didn’t have portable video players or Gameboys. So there was not a lot to do except sleep or enjoy the scenery. As it was, I did enjoy the scenery but for a totally different reason than my parents had intended. What I saw in the constantly changing landscape was the inspiration for stories—stories about horses galloping acro

I’ve been a day-dreamer all of my life. Lucky I was since all our family holidays when I was a child involved long hours of driving with nothing to do but stare out at the passing landscape. It wasn’t unusual for my Dad to map out a trip where we would travel at least six hours a day, seeing the sights and learning the history of the western US and Canada from our big comfy car. In those days we didn’t have portable video players or Gameboys. So there was not a lot to do except sleep or enjoy the scenery. As it was, I did enjoy the scenery but for a totally different reason than my parents had intended. What I saw in the constantly changing landscape was the inspiration for stories—stories about horses galloping across the plains…stories about me, as a horse, galloping across the plains! For me, it was like watching a movie only better because I determined where my adventures would go and who would be the hero.

It wasn’t only car trips that inspired my adventures and it wasn’t only as a child that I indulged in unleashing my imagination. In school I took a particular interest in myths and fables, inventing my own whenever I got the chance. I enjoyed asking, then answering, all the what-ifs that I could imagine: What if princesses really could turn into swans? What if there really were Minotaurs? What if seals could really shed their skins and become humans? What if Athena really could transform into other creatures? What if there are other worlds connected to ours?

As an adult, I still indulge in fantasies and I expect that I always will. I’m always entertained by imagining different people and places.

About ten years ago I began revisiting some of my favorite fantasies and began writing Aesop’s Secret, the first of three books, published by MP Publishing.