July 2008

BOOKS

Local author’s new book

Probably best known in Southwold for her writing classes and lay preaching at both Southwold United Reformed Church and St Edmund’s, Dorothy Courtis has been writing for many years, but her latest book, It’s Hard to Hurry When You’re a Snail, is her first for children. Published under her pen name, Dorothy Stewart, the book tells the story of a snail on his way to Noah’s Ark and all the creatures he meets on his journey. It is beautifully illustrated in full colour by Thomas Taylor, the young graduate artist who first revealed to the world what Harry Potter looked like with his cover design for the first Harry Potter book. Dorothy’s writing career began on her local newspaper, The John O’Groat Journal, then progressed into book publishing, first at Ahmadu Bello University Press in Northern Nigeria, then Macmillan Press, McGraw Hill and latterly as Publishing Director of Chartac Books, the publishing arm of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Moving to Southwold in the 1990s, she found time to write, run writing classes, and coach and encourage other writers. She has written numerous plays, a musical, articles, short stories and is a regular participant at Halesworth’s Café Poets. It’s Hard to Hurry When You’re a Snail is her sixth book. Published on 20th June by Lion Children’s Books, it has already attracted interest in America and the Netherlands. Dorothy is one of the volunteer helpers at Halesworth’s Christian bookshop in the Market Place, The Sign of the Fish, and the book will be available there and at the Orwell Bookshop, price £5.99.