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Lori Brelsford: A Book to Be Yourself

Many children who feel vulnerable often seek refuge in personal creative havens, whether it be music, the arts, or any other medium in which they can immerse themselves. But also, and equally as important, where they will come to the realization that they are not alone in how they feel. North Haven author Lori Brelsford’s interactive book Rock ‘N’ Eight, stresses that empathic sentiment with its several blank, empty spaces, sometimes taking up a full page, where young readers can write or draw their feelings, with an author’s invitation.

“That’s why I wrote for the children, because I want them to know they’re not alone, and there’s a place they can bring their fears and tuck it inside in the blank pages that I left in here,” Lori says. “It’s OK to be you, and that’s a lot about this first book. [It’s] a soft place to fall, and this is just the start.”

To distinguish herself as a writer, Lori chose to write the book under the pen name, “L.A. Brelsford,” consisting of her first and middle initials.

“Ms. [J.K.] Rowling actually inspired me,” Lori says. “I also thought of ‘Lady Hawk One.’ I’m really into birds, and so I thought of that. Then I said, ‘Just put yourself in there. It’s OK.’”

Lori, who has been overcoming odds her whole life, experienced bullying in school and is dyslexic — a fact she didn’t discover for many years. Initially needing to repeat the third grade, she eventually paved her way to becoming a proficient reader, reading at a sixth-grade level by the time she was in the fourth grade. Literary tutelage was graciously bestowed upon her in book and game form by her two most significant mentors, her Aunt Ella and her grandmother ‘Mimi.’

“Quite often enough, I spent time with them, and my aunt would take time out and read with me,” Lori says. “One-on-one, with either my grandmother or my auntie, or all three of us together. We played Scrabble a lot. I still love the game! I liked the challenge as well.”

The story of Rock ‘N’ Eight tells the tale of the titular jump-rope team who enter a competition at their church and learn to overcome adversity and embrace their diversity through camaraderie and shared passion for the sport. Lori has always had a fondness for children’s tales, naming the fairy tales of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Snow White and Seven Dwarves as early favorites, especially with the latter’s animated reinterpretation by Disney. It spoke to her lifelong love for nature and animals, as well. But the direct inspiration for Rock ‘n’ Eight, however, came after she became a certified massage therapist in kinesiology.

“Our instructor decided that he was not going to give us an actual test paper. We could write our story on kinesiology on anything we like,” she said.

Lori initially thought of writing about Argentine tango, as dancing is a favored form of exercise for her.

“Then I was coming over the Q[uinnipiac] Bridge, and after I left school, I said, ‘I know, jump rope! I did get some of the history because I wanted to make it my story. Then [my instructor] said, ‘See me after class.’ And he said, ‘You know, you have a story in here.’ So then I really started diving into the spirit of things, and all of the sudden, I just started writing.”

Like Lori’s book, the origins of many common human practices can originate in unexpected places. Taking after her final massage therapy assignment, a cited history of the jump rope Lori included in the book shows that the practice originated in the Netherlands in the 17th century.

The characters in Rock ‘n’ Eight are inspired by members of her own family, which was an important part of the writing process. The eight child characters, split in half by gender, are named after her brothers, an extended family name of Ryan, her late husband, Bobby, her mother, and her dog, Chloe.

“I needed correlation. So I came up with the four girls and four boys, my aunt’s in here, my mother’s name, my grandmother,” she says. “I do talk about diversity in here. There’s boys and girls of all [ethnicities].”

She describes the book’s moral as “coming around to find what works as a team, and how we can all get along,” and “it’s all about meeting new people too.”

Along with the text, Lori also took on the responsibility of her book’s visuals, sharing her intent for the imagery with her project coordinator, publishing, and illustrative backing groups.

“I wrote a recipe on how I wanted a certain page. And then when they sent back the proof, I started crying. It was just so beautiful, how they organized everything,” she says.

The inclusiveness in the book continues with its second half, which offers its readers a choice to make the story their own, and breaks the rules of writing notes on the pages of another person’s work, which in the Rock ‘n’ Eight, are several blank spaces Lori welcomes with a note that starts with, “Dear Reader.” After reading the letter, it’s theirs.

“We’re taught from an early age not to write in our books. But this book, once it’s theirs, as I say, ‘Dear Reader, this is your book,’ that makes it different,” she said. “They can journal, or if they want to draw a picture of their dog, whatever they’re feeling. I guess that they can let down their defenses and know that other kids have situations too, that they’re not alone.”