Every single moment of every single day, Dean Woodland lives with the debilitating pain and stress of frontal lobe syndrome. It’s a form of brain damage that prevents him from enjoying many of the activities of his peers, but is no bar to a boundless imagination and the huge literary success it’s about to produce.
Following the crafting of many stories for his young son, Lewis, Woodland is now taking one of the volumes public. ‘Journey of a Feather’ follows the adventures of a single personified white feather, as he submits to the wind for a transient life full of surprises.
“Our little feather is thrashed around by the cold wind, from place to place, and finally into the hands of a young boy who discovers him in a park and learns to appreciate the feather with all of his heart,” explains Woodland. “The boy is also suffering a fierce struggle against grief, finding solace in the little feather that makes life appear so simple. It’s a vitally-important message that I want to get across; that life’s ultimate beauty lies in the things we often so gallantly ignore.”
Continuing, “The book has an extremely uplifting ending and even contains a final double-page illustration readers can colour in with their families. I love harking back to the traditional, bygone days of innocent storytelling. There’s nothing quite like this currently on the market.”
This entire project is extremely close to the author’s heart, and he has multiple people to thank for turning it into a reality.
“This entire thing has been therapy for me, and I was unable to afford the sky-high publication costs. This is when I learned that my life is blessed with so many special people and friends. I’d like to thank my wife for her continued support with both the book and my daily heath battles. I also owe endless gratitude to my good friend Matt Smith who funded the cost of writing/publishing the book, as well as NPB Fire Installations for sponsoring the book’s promotion. Without any of these people, my writing dream would have died a long time ago,” he adds.
‘Journey of a Feather’ is available from Amazon and pre-order from WH Smith and Waterstones, as well as the publisher Austin Macauley For more news and information, contact the author.
About the Author:
Dean Woodland started writing children’s stories as a way of escaping his daily battle with frontal lobe syndrome. Each one is written for his son, Lewis.