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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, August 16, 2013 | 18 Author Claudia White publishes first book, Aesop's Secret by Dominik Kurek Oakville Beaver Staff Artscene "Connected to your Community" Oakville resident Claudia White didn't have to search far to create an imaginary world for her imaginary characters. It was already in her mind. Calling herself an expert daydreamer, White spent a childhood daydreaming and continues to do so to this day in her adulthood. Those imaginings have led her to creating a children's novel series based on one of her favourite daydreams growing up: being able to transform into animals. The first novel of the series, Aesop's Secret, has just been published by MP Publishing and is available in the U.S., the U.K., online and at local retailers. "It's very exciting," the married mother of two grown children said. "The process to get published, while it may come easily for some, it's a very difficult process and you have to really want it because you're going to suffer a lot of rejections." The children's novel is about a brother and sister, 12 and 10 respectively, who discover they have the ability to transform into animals, something White daydreamed about growing up. Her favourite animals were horses and tigers. She loved horses growing up after reading books about horses and watching westerns in which horse riders and their steeds galloped across the American plains. She wanted to be a tiger whenever she felt vulnerable. "That's a fantasy many young people have," she said. Growing up, White and her family spent much time in the car on road trips. In a time before portable DVD players, iPods and tablets, there was not much to entertain a child. "I couldn't read in the car because of motion sickness. So, I'd Oakville author Claudia White recently had her first children's novel published. Aesop's Secret is the first in a series of books that follows a brother and sister who can transform into animals. White is holding a book signing at Oakville Chapters Saturday from 1-4 p.m. photo by Nikki Wesley ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog) look out the window and I'd daydream. I'd basically watch movies of my own design," she said. She admits she still daydreams to this day, such as when she's having trouble falling asleep. "I got into writing partly because I was always inventing stories... I always thought I want to do this, I want to write," she said. Her novel is about the 10-yearold Melinda who is a daydreamer herself and imagines turning into animals. Her brother, Felix, scoffs at her childish musings. However, their parents explain to them they come from a long line of people who can transform into animals and their ancestry is often disguised in myths and fables. White incorporates well-known myths of half-animal, half-people creatures such as centaurs and minotaurs. "It's asking the question, what if centaurs, what if minotaurs were real? What if somebody saw them and they were partially transformed, then superstition being what it is, people couldn't accept that could be real so it had to be something strange or a god." Though the book is part of a series, each novel has its own separate conflict and resolution. MP Publishing will publish the next two books, while White is currently writing a fourth. White is holding a book signing at Chapters Oakville, 310 North Service Rd. W., on tomorrow (Saturday) from 1-4 p.m. The book will be available at the store. For more information, visit www.claudiawhitebooks.com. Dominik Kurek can be reached at dkurek@oakvillebeaver.com or on Twitter at @DominikKurek. Grammy-winner Sinead O'Connor plays back-to-back shows at The Centre Famed Irish recording artist and Grammy Award winner Sinead O'Connor is making back-to-back appearances in Oakville along her month-long North American concert tour. The pop-rocker will perform at The Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts, 130 Navy St., on Dec. 2 and 3. Her American Kindness Tour is taking her through Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and a few other stops before it ends in Oakville. O'Connor came to fame in the 1980s with her debut album, The Lion and the Cobra and achieved further international stardom in 1990 with a cover of Nothing Compares 2 U, a song made famous by Prince. O'Connor recently released her ninth full-length album, titled How About I Be Me (and You Be You)? Both Oakville performances start at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $125. For tickets, call the box office at 905-815-2021, or visit www. oakvillecentre.ca.