Read to succeed is writer's best advice

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Metis writer Jacqueline Guest is an award-winning author of children's sports books, but what makes Guest's books unique from others in the same genre is that in each of her books the main character is Aboriginal.

Guest's first book, titled Hat Trick came out in 1997. It is the story of a young girl, Leigh Aberdeen, whose parents are divorced. Her mother lives on Tsuu T'ina reserve and she lives with her Metis father in Calgary. Aberdeen is the only female player on her hockey team, and she is one of the team's best players.

The follow up book, Rookie Season, published in 2000, follows Aberdeen as she captains an all-girls hockey team in a boys' league.

Both books have earned the prestigious Our Choice award from the Canadian Children's Book Centre, which is voted on by teachers, librarians, parents and booksellers across Canada. Over the course of a year, the Our Choice committee reads hundreds of children's books and chooses only the best for the prominent award. Three of Guest's six books have received the Our Choice seal.

The recognition means a lot to the author, as a lengthy process is involved in writing a book.

"As you're writing, you rewrite many times to get it right before you submit it even once to the editor. Once you have rewritten it about a hundred times and you think it's the best you can do, you send it off to the editor, who will do a major edit. If there's any flaws in your plot line or any glaring holes in the story itself, the editor will suggest that you re-work that passage."

Guest says the story goes through a number of editing stages before the final story is sent to her. Usually, the story is very close to what she had in mind when she started writing.

The whole process, from beginning to end, is much like playing sports.

"You have to persevere. The key I think is to keep at it and not give up."

Guest says she has always been interested in writing.

"I started when my children were very young, telling them stories orally. The stories got a little longer and I started writing stories down. They went from being a short story page to many pages."

Guest said that with a lot of encouragement from her husband Gordon, she got in touch with an agent out of Edmonton who connected her with editors at sports book publishers James Lorimer & Company based in Toronto.

Guest says she writes sports stories because she loves to watch different sports.

"I love sports, but I don't play very well. I run like a girl and I throw like a girl," she says with a laugh. "I really enjoy team sports. With children, it's such a good learning tool for them; how to face challenges, how to overcome obstacles and how to win. Sports are a great training ground for school and for life."

In each story, the main character learns important life lessons as the story unfolds.

"My stories are written for all kids. I want children to understand that they can make things happen if they have faith in themselves and go for the gold. I want our kids to succeed. I want them to make wise choices, but if they mess up and make a mistake, I want them to admit the error, fix it, and go on. They are our future."

Guest's seventh book is coming out on Oct. 11. The book is titled A Goal in Sight and is based on an actual hockey team in Calgary called the Calgary Seeing Ice Dogs.

"It's my favorite right now because it's inspired by a real team. This team is special because they are a blind hockey team. I went and saw these guys play and they were an inspiration for everyone. These guys want to play hockey so badly that they're not even going to let blindness stop them. I saw them play in Okotoks and I thought 'I've got to write a book and work these guy in somehow.' So I approached my editor with an idea to write a book about bullying.

"I'm really hoping kids will enjoy this one because it's based on real life. This is a real team and bullying is such a problem in schools right now that I'm hoping that kids who read tis will see that they don't have to go that route, that there's other ways of handling problems."

Guest is currently working on another book-her eighth in six years-which is coming out in 2003, titled Soccer Star. She has already written her first mystery novel for young adult readers, titled Lightning Rider, which was published in 2000. She hopes to write more mysteries in the future.

In addition to her writing, Guest spends time at schools across Alberta, presenting her books and talking to all age groups about the importance of reading.

She also gives workshops and teaches writing to older children. In October, she's heading north to the Peace River area to do a tour of schools.

"If there's one thing I could pass on to kids, it's that if they stick with reading, it will open doors for them for the rest of their lives. If you can't read, you can't succeed. Reading really is the key to success."

To find out more about Jacqueline and her books, or to get in touch with her, log on to her personal Web site at www.jacquelineguest.com.