Twin spirits: Old Saybrook author’s teen identity book comes from heart

Elizabeth (Betsy) O’Brien-Dietz of Old Saybrook is the author of a new book. Elizabeth (Betsy) O’Brien-Dietz of Old Saybrook is the author of a new book. Photo: Submitted Photo Photo: Submitted Photo Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Twin spirits: Old Saybrook author’s teen identity book comes from heart 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

OLD SAYBROOK >> If you like predictable books written by formula, designed for mass market consumption and disposal, this is not the book for you.

But, if you like pure stories, imperfectly told from the heart in the hope of touching just one soul, then this might be worth a read.

Elizabeth (Betsy) O’Brien-Dietz of Old Saybrook writes under the name Ocean O’Brien, and knows firsthand the struggle for identity teens face, especially twins — because she is one.

The unimaginative twin questions such as, “So, which one of you is older, which less shy, more outgoing, taller, shorter etc.?” She terms these interactions as reducing twins to “greater-than” and “less-than signs” and not looking at each as his or her own individual.

“The Pixie and the Siren,” O’Brien’s recently published first novel, features teenage twins who travel to Australia as exchange students and to leave the shackles of bullying behind them. Shortly after arriving, they are magically transformed into Mother Nature’s makeup artists embodied as a siren (mermaid) and a pixie (fairy).

Part pixie, part siren herself, with flowing tresses, O’Brien chose the name “Ocean” because of her affinity with the sea. She also chose a fitting place to sign her book: the legendary clam shack, Johnny Ad’s on Boston Post Road last week.

A Semester at Sea voyage took O’Brien around the world. “That experience changed my life,” she said. It was the first time she had been away from her twin sister for that long. “People will ask me, ‘Are you the Pixie or the Siren?’ and my answer is ‘I’m both.’ I’m all of my characters rolled up into one. When you write, you weave your own experiences into your work. Anything that really touches you ends up in the story.”

She added, “I can look back through the story and I can remember exactly where something came from, what I was thinking when I wrote it.”

The story opens with Father Time and Mother Nature, written as a pretty typical married couple. “Father Time is of Japanese descent. He’s from one of the ‘blue zones,’ where people live the longest, they have a core wellness and vitality,” O’Brien explained.

“The book has so many positive messages: It’s about twins being their own individuals, and not being afraid to show their differences, and basically it’s about being creative, having an imagination and finding your own light.”

Her many characters illustrate that point.

“Each magical creature that comes to life has something missing. The snow leopard is endangered and doesn’t know how to be free,” O’Brien said. Through following his passion for the guitar, he learns how to set himself free.

O’Brien seeks to “teach and inspire people to be better people, to find the light within, to let go of having to be perfect, and to show them that the power is in their own hands.”

Nature is in the forefront of the story through endangered characters, the beauty of the earth, the sea and the changing skies. As Mother Nature’s makeup artists, the twins color the sky each morning and evening.

“I’ve always loved watching sunrises and sunsets. One of the twins comes from the sun, and one from the moon.”

Her target reader? “Anyone with a heart and a soul. Everyone can get something from it,” O’Brien said.

“If you have a dream, you have to go after it — you just have to chase it.” She talks of having a “fire inside” to provide the drive to not give up. “This book was two years in the making. I knew I had to get it done.”

The physical book itself is also a message. O’Brien self-published the novel through Amazon. “I wanted 100-percent creative freedom. If I tried to find an agent, I might have had to change my story. Maybe my cover’s not perfect, but I can point to it and say, ‘I did that myself.’ Don’t let the fear of not being perfect stand in your way. I would rather have someone be inspired than to feel it wasn’t approachable.” If the book was clean and perfectly edited, she said, “it wouldn’t be real.”

She relied on her husband, twin sister, three brothers, her parents, a host of friends and her trusty cancer-surviving Labrador for support and feedback as she wrote.

Amazon offers a few days of free downloads for e-books. “It reached the top 10,” she said. “You never know how far you will reach. I would wake up and have downloads from all different countries.” But she adds, “it’s not about the numbers, I just want to make a difference, even if it just makes a difference for one person.”

O’Brien was even featured on WFSB’s Better Connecticut television talk show and spoke about being a twin.

“The Pixie and the Siren” is available at the signing, on amazon.com in e-book and paperback and locally at the Old Saybrook Laundromat and Branford Book and Card Shoppe. You can check out the book’s Facebook page, which includes a photograph of O’Brien and her twin sister.