A former Tsawwassenite is back in town this weekend to promote his first children’s book.
Larry Fielding, who grew up in Tsawwassen but now lives in Prince George, will be at Raindance: A Festival for Indie Authors at Lansdowne Centre in Richmond Saturday to promote his book, The X-tails Snowboard at Shred Park, the first in a series of six self-published children’s books that follow the antics of six best friends on their search for fun that takes them on many wild and extreme adventures.
The book fair is free to the public and will include both book signings and readings. Children and young adult authors will be exhibiting from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; adult fiction and non-fiction authors will be present from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Fielding, who writes as L.A. Fielding, grew up in Tsawwassen but left shortly after high school. After spending a year living, and snowboarding, at Mount Baker, he ended up at studying forestry at the University of Northern B.C. Now settled in Prince George with his wife and two children, Fielding said the idea for the X-tails was born on the weekly drives the family to go snowboarding at Powder King Mountain Resort. During the two-hour drive, Fielding said, all his son would want is for him to tell stories.
His wife encouraged him to start writing them down, and the X-tails was born.
Growing up, Fielding, a professional forester, was an avid athlete and gravitated to skateboarding, biking and snowboarding. Today, he continues to pursue his love of those sports with his family. And his love of sport and adventure has come through in his children’s stories.
Fielding began work on the books two years ago and the first one has been out for about a month.
He said he is currently working on the second book in the series.
The X-tails Snowboard at Shred Park is available in e-book format for Apple devices and Kindles through iBooks and Amazon. Hard and soft cover versions of the book can also be found on Amazon.
For more about The X-tails visit www.TheXtails.com.
