For Bermudian Tina Okereke, a broken limb turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because it led to four children's books co-created by Mrs. Okereke and her husband Laurence. Mrs. Okereke was a police officer, but resigned from her job and now works as an administrator at Elder Care.

"After I broke my leg when I was on the police force, I had too much time on my hands," said Mrs. Okereke. "I decided to draw. I have always loved art. Bermudian artist Chesley Trott was my art teacher when I was at Warwick Secondary. I always got As. So art has always been a passion of mine, but I was more of a painter."

The Okereke's first book was 'Barry and Big Joe' and was quickly followed by 'Barry plays with Fire', 'Barry Makes a Kite' and 'Barry and the Gombeys'.

"Barry and Big Joe was based on a story that my husband told about having a rooster when he was a kid. The story stayed in my mind. I have always liked it, because I thought it was a funny story."

To amuse herself while recovering from her injury she started drawing pictures to go along with the story. She wanted her kids to have the story to eventually pass on to their own children. She and her husband have three teenagers, two sons and a daughter.

"I drew the pictures, and my husband put the words to it," she said. "It wasn't supposed to be something that sold. It was really just for my children. An aunt of mine who was a writer took a look at it. She thought it was wonderful. She said, 'you should make more and sell them. You need to just change this and do this...'. She said I should make it more of a children's book.

"I said, okay, and I thought about it. In the end, the ending of the book was totally different. I went back and I actually did it and put it together. I sold about thirty copies, and I couldn't believe it. People actually liked it. They gave me such good feedback, that I decided to create another one."

She based her next book, 'Barry Plays with Fire' on a friend who accidentally started a house fire as a child. In the book, the main character, Barry, is playing with matches and accidentally sets his grandfather's house on fire.

Frightened, Barry runs to a neighbour's house and pretends he had no idea the house was on fire. 'Barry Plays with Fire' is a bit of a cautionary tale, because the consequence of the fire is that Barry has to leave Jamaica and live in Bermuda.

"When my friend told me the story, I could picture it in my mind," said Mrs. Okereke. "Then I started drawing, and then my husband put the words to it. In the story, when the neighbour tells Barry, the house is on fire, Barry goes 'It is?'. My friend told it exactly that way, and we cracked up laughing. So we wanted that part in there."

Her second book sold even more copies than the first. Then, searching around for another story, she decided to use one of her own. I had a story about following the gombeys, but it was boring. My husband took that story and made it into something more entertaining. For 'Barry Makes a Kite', I pretty much wrote the story too."

She and her husband will have been married 16 years next March. She said collaborating on the books has definitely brought the two of them together, especially since her husband lives in North Carolina.

"Because I was in the police force, he did come to Bermuda to live for a little while, but he didn't like it here," said Mrs. Okereke. "So he doesn't live here, and I come back and forth all the time. My husband was born in England, spent a few years as a child living in Jamaica, and now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina."

The Okerekes' books are literally 'self-published'. Mrs. Okereke has her own printing press set up in her house, comprised of a computer, printer, binding machine, laminating machine and a coil machine. She plans to upgrade her equipment soon, so that she can offer her books in hardback form instead of the current coiled cover.

"It is all in my bedroom," she said. "The new equipment is coming to my house, actually next week. I do it myself, not so much because it is cheaper, but because I find that I get pleasure in it. A lot of people have told me, why don't you just send it to a publishing company and let them do everything for you? My answer is that doing it that way would take all the joy out of it for me. I enjoy drawing the book. I enjoy putting it together. And I enjoy seeing the finished product afterward. I love the whole process. I even put together my own Barry Doll, and made a little gombey costume for him."

Once she has made the books she often sells them on street corners in the United States. In Bermuda, the Barry series is currently available at ABC, the Seventh Day Adventist bookstore on King Street, and may soon be available at other bookstores in Bermuda also.

Mrs. Okereke said one of her ultimate goals is to get them into Bermuda schools. She recently did a book signing at the new library opening at Elliot Primary School in Devonshire. In January 2008, she hopes to release a new book in the series, 'Barry Goes to the Beach'. She also had to recall 'Barry and the Gombeys' due to a spelling error, but it will be available again shortly.