By Diane Tibert, Special
EAST HANTS: It was a sunny day many years ago, when I heard a knock at my door, and a woman I had never met stood on my step. After quick introductions, I learned she was Barbara-Jean Moxsom, local playwright, illustrator, cartoonist and author.
Since that first meeting, we’ve met many times, and I’ve learned about her journey as a creator.
Moxsom dreams big. Back in the early 2000s, she submitted several scripts to producers in Hollywood, New York and Toronto. When nothing panned out, she turned her focus to local dinner theatres.
After volunteering with production and acting in a play with The Flock at St. James Anglican Church, Shubenacadie, she wrote a few plays and pitched them to the group.
Long story short, her first play, The Next Big Star, was performed in 2012. It was followed by several others, including The Oak Island Mystery, which performed in Shubenacadie as well as Mahone Bay.
As a playwright, Moxsom’s target audience is adults. However, she has several projects geared towards children. Her most recent publication, Did You Call for Me?, is for children ages 4 to 8 (pre-K to grade 3).
When asked what inspired her to write this picture book, Moxsom wrote, “Whenever I saw a child who looked glum, I instinctively asked, ‘Are you all right?’ or, ‘Is everything OK?’ More often than not, kids responded with a dreaded, ‘I don’t know.’”
The same glum expressions appeared on her young children’s faces when asked these questions. The many “I don’t know” answers prompted Moxsom to create Obeedang, the fun-loving character who would ask the questions with the hope of receiving an accurate answer.
When asked what feelings she wanted to generate with this book, Moxsom wrote, “I want children to feel more natural and comfortable exploring how they feel.” She adds, “I want to invoke and promote the sense of acceptance, knowing it’s OK to be mad, or sad, and there is no shame in how we feel.”
This learned ability to discuss our feelings when we are young helps us to better deal with complicated and emotional situations when we’re adults. With mental health becoming more prevalent as the decades pass, this ability to speak our truths enables the opportunity for conversations that might prevent a tragedy.
Moxsom wants to send this message to readers: “I hope this opens a door for children, allowing them to feel comfortable discussing how they feel, so as they grow older they can better address their feelings.”
So what is Did you Call for Me? about? Moxsom writes, “The Obeedang arrives on scene when you open the book. He is on a mission trying to comfort the reader. Nearing the end, the readers’ smiles and giggles let the Obeedang know that it’s time for him to leave. His job here is done. But before he goes, he reminds his readers, ‘… just open this book and I will be there. I am your Obeedang from out of the blue. And I will do what I can to help comfort you.’”
At this time, there are no plans for a second book starring Obeedang, but the future is always a mystery, so Moxsom leaves that door open. For now, she’s got several other projects on the go, including two additional children’s books: Twenty Froggies Went to School and Mertle the Turtle Wore Purple Mittens, which she plans to release later this year.
Moxsom is also heavily involved in the schools. She’s given several author readings and presentations in elementary level classrooms. In addition to this, she’s developed a program to help children write their own stories, and she illustrates these stories in real time, much to the children’s delight. She’s already presented this program in two schools with much success and is starting to look ahead to the 2022-2023 school year to schedule visits well in advance to ensure she can meet the demand.
As a writer and a playwright, she has advice for those dreaming of doing the same: “Never give up.” She adds, “Before you reach out to unknown producers and executives, explore your own backyard. Volunteering gets you in the door. It gives you an opportunity to learn the ropes and become a better creator. Like Granpa says in Welcome to Corridornia, “There’s lots of opportunities here; you just haven’t looked in the right place.”
Did You Call for Me? is available at Amazon (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1999419375) and Kobo (https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/did-you-call-for-me). To learn more about Moxsom, her books and other projects, visit her website Once Upon Tyne (https://onceupontyneca.wordpress.com).
