AUTHOR Andrew Kelly first used writing to process his own feelings and is now encouraging a generation of local boys to process theirs with Cry Hard Chucky.
While his debut children’s book becoming a beacon for breaking stereotypes may have been unintentional, Mr Kelly said he was happy that interpretation had resonated with educators and children.
“It was more to encourage everyone to deal with their emotions and move on from them, but the fact that the main characters are a dad and a son means that that’s what people have gravitated to,” he said.
“This is something that my father used to say to us all the time, and he wouldn’t just say it to us boys he’d say it to the girls as well.
“He’d say ‘Cry hard, lovey. It’ll do you good’ for whatever we were crying about.”
Mr Kelly has been writing for more than two decades, writing his first play Second Coming from the depths of depression, creating his own therapy through articulating his experience to find a way forward.
His plays have sold out the Town Hall many times through the years since he debuted with The Great Flood, but the theatre adaptation of Cry Hard Chucky by the Wakool Burraboi Public School last week was very exciting for Mr Kelly.
“It’s a real highlight for me,” he said.
“I’ve written it out in song form, and the two Year 6 students will be narrating while the other nine students will act it out, with two Prep boys taking turns as Chucky.”
Mr Kelly’s writing and teaching careers go hand-in-hand as his time in the classroom inspires his writing.
“All of my work has been inspired by my life and what I’ve seen and done and lived and observed – mostly observed.
“I get inspiration every day from the kids.
“They say so many funny things.”
Cry Hard Chucky has become the highest selling book ever at Collins Booksellers in Swan Hill, with the first edition nearly sold out.
Mr Kelly has plans to make the book into a series, embarking on self-publishing now that he has learned the ropes.
