Ode to mum launched on Mothers Day

Rockingham author Monique Mulligan will release her first picture book,My Silly Mum , on Mothers Day as a celebration of the quirky side of mothers everywhere.

A 10-year-old project that was started for her children and in partnership with illustrator Veronica Rooke, Mulligan blew off the dust and brought it to life early this year.

“I didn’t touch it for years and then decided to send it to Serenity Press and they loved it,” she said.

“It was very quick — after sitting for years in a draw I had an illustrator and it was happening within weeks so it was really exciting and a bit surreal.”

My Silly Mum captures the eye rolling, face-palming moments of growing up with a mother who still remembers what it is like to be young.

Rooke said the manuscript felt easy to illustrate on the first reading.

“Images instantly popped into my head from the words — to an artist, this is a good sign,” she said.

“Our humour synchronised very quickly resulting in fun drawings that weave around the story.”

A former newspaper and magazine editor, journalist and children’s curriculum writer, Mulligan has always wanted to write.

“Writing has always been the thing I wanted to do but it was a ‘one day thing’ and so I had to make it happen,” she said.

Mulligan knuckled down in 2015 to released her first novella,The Point of Love, and is currently finishing a contemporary fiction novel and a number of short stories.

“The dream is to be able to write full-time — if I could write in all forms then I would be really happy,” she said.

My Silly Mum has a hearty sprinkling of humour, simple language and funny illustrations.

The book will be launched during the Rockingham Writers Book Fair at the Rockingham Arts Centre on Sunday, May 8.