Talking to the trees

New Zealand business and IT consultant and author Claire Bulman, 41, has released her first book, aimed at children aged seven to ten, The Answer Tree. Maldon-based Bulman is hoping her target audience will have fun reading the modern morality tale, enjoying the story about ten-year-old Henry who discovers a magical, talking tree. She said a walk along a canal near the British town’s 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. Bulman was one of the first female riflemen in the western world. She also stood for Parliament in New Zealand.