Sherri Eri: Losing My Sight Changed How I Tell a Story

“In August 2000, before I turned 32, I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. It is a rare eye disease that leads to permanent, progressive vision loss.

At first, the changes were subtle. I could still work. But as the years passed, it became harder. One evening, as I turned to look at my husband, I realised I could no longer see his face clearly.

It was as if someone had smudged his features. At that moment, I understood that one day, I might not see him at all. I didn’t say anything. I was afraid I would cry. After that, I found myself memorising the faces of the people I loved.

My life revolved around words. After completing my Master’s in English Language, I wrote profiles and cultural pieces, listening to people, shaping their stories into something others could connect with. 

Due to the condition, however, I had to stop freelance writing eventually. When I did, I lost a part of who I was. I couldn’t write. And I couldn’t read, because audiobooks were limited and expensive then. For a long time, I believed that chapter was over.

In 2022, a friend asked if I might write a picture book. We were in the car, driving back from a meet-up. I didn’t think much of it. Months later, she asked again. This time, I said yes.

I threw myself into learning the craft, reading guides, listening to audiobooks, trying to understand how picture books worked. Instead of building confidence, it shook me. It was a completely different discipline.

I clung to a checklist as I wrote my first story, I Am Not An Owl, Or Am I? I made sure the main character and conflict appeared early, worrying whether I was getting it right. Eventually, my friend decided picture books were not for her, but I was too hooked to stop.

Around that time, I asked my husband to read picture books aloud to me. That was when I noticed it. Parts of the story were missing. So much of it was in the illustrations. Then I came across Jack and the Flumflum Tree by Julia Donaldson, narrated by David Tennant. 

Listening to it, I could follow the story fully, even without the pictures. Lightbulb moment. Picture books were not inaccessible. It was how they were written that made them that way! So I began writing differently.

Under my pen name, Sherri Eri, I made sure the words carried the action and detail, so nothing essential relied on the illustrations. For example (in I Am Not An Owl, Or Am I?): ‘So Hoot turns yellow, Wobbles, longs to quack. But when he opens up his beak, Hoo-ack, hoo-ack, hoo-ack.’

At the same time, I wanted the books to remain visually appealing for children who can see. I built a guideline for my stories under my venture, Picture the Book – stories with rhythm for kids who listen, and colour for kids who see.

Since then, I have written and self-published nine books, some adapted into audio formats. This journey has not been mine alone. My husband, Rush, began by helping with layout and presentation. Gradually, that support grew into teamwork.

But reaching readers was another challenge. At 51, Rush made a decision that surprised even himself. He enrolled in a digital marketing programme with @ASK Training, his first time back in a classroom in nearly 30 years. It wasn’t easy.

He had spent his career working behind a console. Now, he has to speak up, present ideas and think in terms of audiences and reach. His course-mates spoke the language of marketing with ease. He didn’t.

For a while, he wasn’t sure he belonged there. But he stuck with it. And slowly, things began to click. Through the programme, he started to see our books as something people needed to discover. What he learned at @ASK Training, he put to work immediately.

He reworked our website, making it clearer and easier to navigate. He began thinking about how parents, educators and readers search, and what would make them stay. Today, if you search for ‘Sherri Eri’, the name appears across the first few pages of results.

A parent once told me her one-year-old son used to resist shower time. After reading one of my books (It’s Raining, Cats and Duck), he began looking forward to it, because he wanted to be like the character. Small moments, but precious to me.

These days, this is how we work: I write, and he works out how to get the books in front of people. It took us a while to understand that both parts matter. Losing my sight didn’t end things. I just write differently now.

And what Rush picked up at @ASK Training helped us move things forward. One reader at a time, more people are finding the books now. And that’s enough reason to keep going.” – Sherri Eri

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