A WALK along the canal inspired a new author to put pen to paper.

Claire Bulman is celebrating the release of her first book, The Answer Tree, and is hoping her target audience will have fun reading it, enjoying the story about ten-year-old Henry who discovers a magical, talking tree.

The book is aimed at children aged seven to ten and is a modern morality tale, opening childrens’ eyes to the concepts of positive thought and self-realisation.

Claire, 41, is originally from New Zealand but has lived in Maldon with her partner for nearly eight years.

She said a walk along the canal near Paper Mill Lock got her creative juices flowing.

“I was just sitting out in the sun and I saw my tree. I could see all the faces in it and the story came to life,” she said.

“It all started about five years ago, I pretty much wrote it in a couple of weeks then my friends asked if I could read it to their children and they encouraged me to do something with it.”

After finding an artist to illustrate the novel and a few edits later, the book was published and it is now available to buy.

Claire added: “I’ve always liked writing and creating characters. It’s been an interesting time, a lovely creative experience.

“I had a wonderful artist working with me, I was really pleased with it in the end.”

Writing her debut novel is another twist in Claire’s eclectic and interesting professional career so far.

She currently works in London as a business and IT consultant but after studying geography and anthropology at universities in both New Zealand and Sydney, Australia, Claire began working with teenagers and adults with educational difficulties, focusing on encouraging women to rejoin the workforce.

While she was at university she also joined the army, becoming one of the first female riflemen in the western world. She then moved to Brisbane, Australia, where she worked in computer game sales - a job which took her to many corners of the globe including, Japan, Panama, the United States and Vietnam.

Another move back to New Zealand’s South Island then led to a bold step into politics and Claire even stood for Parliament.

But she is happy to stay in Maldon now.

She said: “I love being by the water and nature, after three years living in London it’s nice to come out to the country.

“It’s right on my doorstep and my tree’s here.

“It’s a very community orientated place, it’s different to New Zealand and Australia. There you live more of a distance apart, here in Maldon you are right next to people.

“There’s lots of artists, scientists - it’s quite a mix, I find it really relaxed.”

For more information about the book visit www.theanswertree.co.uk