Books

Kingsville’s Les McDonald Publishes First Book ‘Ella Learns a Lesson’

Kingsville’s newly-published author is a well-known fixture in our town.

Armed with a camera and a drone, Les McDonald can often be seen around town chronicling life in our community. He captures and shares videos that serve as a visual reminder of events, both good and bad, that have become a part of our story. Whether it’s a music fest or a flood, he shares his work widely to keep everyone informed.

However, Les is more than just a lens-wielding observer. He is a staunch community booster, tirelessly advocating for new businesses and initiatives that enhance the well-being of residents. In a perpetual state of creativity, Les continues to redefine himself, leaving us intrigued by the many facets of his life.

And now Les can add Published Author to his long list of achievements. Ella Learns A Lesson is a beautifully illustrated children’s book aimed at young readers aged 3 to 8 and their parents. As someone who reads to his own children, Les hopes that parents will enjoy sharing his new book with their children.

The Kingsville Times recently sat down with Les to discuss his book Ella Learns A Lesson, how A.I. played a role in his publishing, and what’s next for him on his creative journey.

Kingsville Times:
How long has the idea of writing a children’s book been sitting with you?  What kick-started you into action?

Les McDonald:
I’ve been wanting to write a children’s book for some time. Publishing always stopped me. It was a big commitment to find a publisher and pay to have thousands of books printed, etc.

I’m really big in to Artificial Intelligence for use in my business as a digital marketer. I’ve been using tools like ChatGPT for some time and I discovered that as an illustrator, I could use A.I. to help me with my illustrations. I also learned that I can do print on demand with Kindle Direct Publishing and got the spark to work on a book in my spare time.

KT:
Do you consider yourself a creative person at heart?  What other artistic ventures have you been involved in?

LM:
I’ve been an artist since a very young age and I’m very creative. I thrive on creativity actually. I used to do a lot of illustrations, paintings and mixed media. Even a comic strip in the Jasper local paper when I lived out West. I really enjoyed that.

When I moved to Banff in my early 20’s I ended up starting a Graphic Design company where I designed logos and business cards, etc. I did all of the artwork by hand. In my later 20’s I became obsessed with digital video while it was very early days technology-wise and started my video production company.

I filmed a lot of documentary wildlife and nature content. (Here’s the resulting Canadian Rockies Content YouTube Channel with over 6.5 Million hits and counting.) I was fortunate to have some corporate customers who flew me all over the globe so my new form of art became my use of video and photography to tell a story. Fast forward quite a few years later, and I live here in beautiful Kingsville with my family.

KT:
What inspired you to write your book Ella Learns A Lesson?

LM:
I have a 7-year-old and a 12-year-old and we read books to our youngest all of the time. I based the story on an actual wildlife experience I viewed while filming Grizzlies during the salmon run on the West Coast in a remote area called Bute Inlet.

I had sort of forgotten about this experience but I was going through my archival footage and doing a new edit of the Grizzly Bears for my YouTube channel and came across this dramatic clip and it was like a spark that ignited a flame. I knew there was a story I wanted to share here.

Above is the YouTube video of the inspiration for the story.

Here’s a video link for the short documentary video that Les produced showing the Grizzly Bears gathering and fishing in this incredible location. 

KT:
What do you hope readers will take away from the book?

LM:
I hope that young readers learn how important it is to listen to their parents, and the possible consequences of the impulse not to listen. And perhaps equally as important, the strength of a mother’s love. I see on a daily basis now my wife will sacrifice EVERYTHING for her children and it was Tina who inspired me to make the Mom in this story the superhero.

KT:
What was your writing process?  Did you write at a set time everyday or did you write when you had the inspiration to do so?

LM:
The process for me because I have ADHD, is a bit all over the place, but for the most part, I would work on this after the kids were in bed. That’s the best time for me to be creative for sure. Once I started writing I became a bit obsessed with getting it done.

First I did a broad outline of the story I hoped to tell. Then I started planning a bit of the story, and corresponding image ideas in text for a 24 page book. Once I had the story written and the textual descriptions of the illustrations, I started working on the illustrations. Which was a massive task.

KT:
Tell us about the illustrations. You mentioned that they were partially generated using A.I.

LM:
So I’ve been using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator for over 20 years and LOVE these tools for creating. With the advance of A.I. I was able to use these tools, with some new A.I. based tools to craft the illustrations.

A.I would come up with some pretty good basic images for me based on me creating the right text prompts but I had to learn how to create prompts that would actually deliver what I was thinking of in my head. That was a learning curve on its own. I had so many failed attempts LOL. Once I started getting good basic images, and I had the style nailed down, I brought them into photoshop and illustrator and doing pretty extensive editing. But A.I. helped me with a lot of the heavy lifting.

But there was another learning curve. Publishing on KDP is a very specific process and your illustrations, cover, and so much more have to be very specific so it was a lot of formatting afterwards.

KT:
What can readers look for in the future from Les McDonald?

LM:
I’d like to start working on a new book soon since I’ve got the process figured out. Perhaps a book a little more magical based on First Nation Spirit Animals since I’m Mi’kmaq. My daughter’s favorite image is on the last page of my current book which is based on a dream and has a really unique and magical style from the rest of the book.

KT:
Where can readers find Ella Learns A Lesson?

LM:
I’m so excited to share that with you! Ella Learns A Lesson – A story of Rapids, Grizzlies, and Motherly Magic is available on Amazon as a digital Kindle Version or Paperback (8.25″ x 8.25″).

And if anyone decides to purchase the book, Thank You!

If you also have time to leave a rating and a review it is sooooo appreciated. It will help with my rankings since I’m a new author and Amazon uses algorithms based on rankings and reviews.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed making it. 

Click here to purchase your copy of Ella Learns A Lesson.

All images and the video provided by Les McDonald

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*