One of Richmond’s newest authors is Brett Priest, who has designs on building a children’s book company following the recent self-publication of The Adventures with Liz.
“I work in an office, but being an author is a side passion of mine. I decided to self-publish this book and keep working on others until it’s my career,” said Priest, whose pen name is B. G. Baire, short for Gummy Bear Books, the name of his start-up company.
Liz is inspired by Priest’s daughter Quinn. His family lives in Richmond’s City Centre.
Priest said his family growing up wasn’t as close as he would have liked it, hence his desire to focus on his daughter and work on children’s books.
“The book is sort of an homage to being there with your children; being there for your kids,” he explained.
The story surrounds the initial misadventures of Liz becoming lost in the forest during a family camping trip.
“The focus is the importance of being with family. And don’t wander off, of course, safety first,” chuckled the Steveston-London secondary graduate, now 33.
Liz loses her parents after following a rabbit down a path. She encounters scarier animals along the way. Luckily things work out at the end, with lessons learned, said Priest.
He said there’s no particular personal reason for choosing camping as the background for the book, rather it lends itself to a good story many families can relate to.
Priest also illustrated the book and taught himself Photoshop tricks along the way.
On his real adventures with Quinn, he’ll often Photoshop Liz into many pictures on his Instagram account @RealAdventuresOfLiz. Find him on Facebook at @B’s Books.
