Over the years, and with a growing family, poems and short stories have always been part of my life. However, story telling took on a whole new dimension with the arrival of my three granddaughters.
Firstly, they had to be made up stories and not just one of the classics that I had been brought up on.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, there had to be continuity. Each bed time story was an adventure and had to flow on from the previous episode. Names. places and locations had to be correct and ‘Dampa’ would be very quickly put in his place if he got it wrong.
While the little ones seemed to have an unlimited capacity to absorb and remember each detail , it ultimately required me to start making copious notes in order to keep up.
Over time, these notes formed the basis for my first serious children’s novel called The Blue Crown.
After extensive proof reading by my wife, (it needed it), hand bound copies were duly presented to each of my granddaughters and I thought that my work was done.
However, this was not the case as the pressure to make it available publicly was increased.
It was also at this time that one of my nieces mentioned that she had recently carried out some work for a relatively new publishing house called – Britain’s Next Best Seller, and so, with some trepidation, I sent off my manuscript for consideration.
A phone call from David McCaffrey at BNBS, http://www.bnbsbooks.co.uk/ set my heart racing and I am pleased to say that The Blue Crown, which is now going through its final stages of creating its cover jacket, is available for pre-order on Amazon Kindle – click here