Showing love to others while rising above adversity is the theme of a new book from a talented Carinity employee.
Carole Pallier, who works at the Carinity Brookfield Green aged care community in Brisbane, has published her first children's book, Daphne's Destiny.
It is the heart-warming and inspiring story of a bantam which overcomes bullying on a chicken farm.
"The bantam is born into a world looking different to everyone else. She is shown favour by the farmer and in the process gets bullied by other chickens," Carole says.
"She meets a very unusual acquaintance who then becomes her guide and helps her to develop a plan to overcome evil with good… and by showing love to others."
Carole wrote and illustrated the 48-page colour book over a period of 10 months after "writing my first paragraph in a café".
"My initial inspiration came from a dream of a conversation we were having at work. However, as I wrote it, it took on a life of its own," Carole says.
"I had a dream one night to start drawing again, so I picked up anything I could find around the house and drew it. I had no idea at that point that within a months' time I would be writing and Illustrating a book."
Carole says Daphne's Destiny - a story about rising above adversity to lead a happy life and "helping others to see the worth in themselves" - is based on her personal experiences.
"It is pretty much my story as I was abandoned as a state ward at the age of 13. I was abandoned, rejected, bullied, but I have overcome," Carole says.
"The moral of the story is that just because you start life badly and bad things may happen to you, you can rise above them and turn the situation around and have a happy life."
Discouraged from drawing as a child by her mother, Carole said illustrating the book was "a little challenging at first" but then "all the talent I had within me accelerated and I just drew".
The new author says the reaction to Daphne's Destiny has been "overwhelming".
"People have said they laughed, cried and felt the pain when Daphne was abandoned. It has impacted many people," Carole says.
"When I first showed people I was very nervous, as I was expecting the same condemnation from others as from my mother, but in fact it was the polar opposite.
"I always thought I was weird and an outcast, but it turns out that people loved my story."
A member of Carinity Brookfield Green's catering team, Carole says Carinity has been supportive of her creative endeavours including putting 20 canvases of her photographs of flowers, birds and nature around Brookfield Green buildings.
Read an excerpt from Daphne's Destiny and purchase a copy of the book.
