A BOOK bound to draw the attention of readers, author Stephen John Winkler’s first published story ‘The Roo Speaks’ is the culmination of a fifteen-year labour of love.
For Stephen, 58, growing up on his family’s Landsborough farm and watching the local fauna nurtured his love of nature, providing the foundations of his fantasy themed novel.
‘The Roo Speaks’ is the narrative of an old storyteller, and his two young companions whose adventurous journey through a magical rainforest, draws them into the lives and struggles of a realm of talking kangaroos.
The message “I am trying to put across is to respect nature, respect the trees, plants and animals and look after them and not just bulldoze everything and destroy it,” Stephen said.
Stephen added, ‘The Roo Speaks’ conveys the moral “to be kind and good to each other and not hang on to hate or fear”.
Stephen, whose affinity with animals began in his youth training horses, seen today as a “horse whisperer”, would let the unbroken horses come to him, so as not to break their spirit.
With a love of writing and wanting to share his stories, Stephen is working on the final stages of a new book set again in the fantasy genre.
‘The Roo Speaks’ is available through online bookstores.