It's lovely to meet you Jay, so can you start by telling me about your writing journey.
It's lovely to be here! The first children’s story I wrote, The Tale of Totowa, came
about because of my love for wildlife. I have always enjoyed writing, but never
really thought of writing a children’s book before this.
I had travelled to many countries to see wildlife in its own
natural habitat, wild and free. I love photography, and wildlife encounters
were always so thrilling that it had almost become an addiction.
I can understand that, I'm a fan of seeing wildlife in the wild too!
There's nothing quite like it. My love continued and when I moved to Turkey, 19 years ago, and heard a loud chirping noise outside my window every night, I was excited and curious to see what creature it was.
Each night for weeks I would stand on my bedroom balcony
or downstairs terrace, a torch in one hand and a camera in the other, searching
in the dark. However, the chirping sound would very often stop as I crept
about.
I had lost hope of ever discovering what this animal was. I
had many disturbed nights’ sleep and must confess to feeling extremely
frustrated, but my curiosity and love of wildlife kept me going.
That's perseverance! What happened next?
One night, I was again standing on my terrace
searching in the dark with my torch, and the noise started again. It sounded so
close, echoing around me. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t see it, but
wait, was the noise coming from behind me? From inside the house! Could it have
been in my house all along? I walked into my kitchen and burst out laughing.
There, sitting on the edge of my dog’s water bowl, was a little green
toad.
I was so dumbfounded I had forgotten to even take a photo, but my imagination was stirred and I started writing ‘The Tale Of Totowa’ the very next day.
Aww, that's really cute!
Unfortunately, once written, it remained unedited, and his story
sat in the dusty archives of my computer, rather like Totowa himself, who must
have been hiding all that time in the dust under my kitchen units.
I am not sure if I ever intended to do anything with it in
the way of publication. I just wanted to write, and I hoped my grandchildren
would read it someday.
So you had a manuscript collecting dust, but you have more published books now, so what happened to change that?
My next two books came about many years later, and for a
very different reason. With thanks to social media, my childhood friend Alison
reconnected with me. We had known each other for many years through the trials
and tribulations of growing up. In fact, our mothers had been friends. Both had
been nurses who had worked together many years before and had also stayed
friends.
Sadly, Alison and I had lost touch, so I was delighted to hear from her again. She was now living in France and loving her life there. I was devastated when she told me she was unwell, and I knew she was very depressed because of it. I racked my brain to think of a way to cheer her up. Travelling to see her at that time wasn’t possible, and I came up with an idea that I hoped would help.
Whenever we spoke, we dreamt about meeting up somewhere and catching up on the parts of each other’s lives we had missed out on hearing about, so I wrote her a poem and asked her to write the next verse. I named the poem, I Wonder Where Our Bench Will Be? This is the first verse:
Where should our bench be?
Should it be where we have never been?
Should it look over a river or stream?
Should there be trees and grass, and flowers?
A picnic, perhaps, as we talk for hours.
Or should it be looking out to sea?
I wonder where our bench should be.
Perhaps a lake reflecting the sky?
A Paris cafe, watching passers-by?
Maybe a forest during spring or fall?
Or a snowy mountain 1000ft tall
I think I would like the sky to be blue
But as for the rest, it’s over to you.
The very next day, I was thrilled to receive a verse back
from my friend. This became an almost daily occurrence, and our poem continued
for months until we had finally caught up with so many of the adventures we had
experienced.
After we had shared so many of our antics over the years, the poem ended, and Alison had started to feel low again. She wanted a new challenge, so I suggested we write a children’s book. She loved the idea but suggested that I write it and she would illustrate it. I got writing straight away as I had recently visited Mexico and met a cunning little raccoon I had named Bandito.
And these are the illustrations she sent over?
Yes. It was wonderful sending Alison each chapter I had written, and it was wonderful seeing my little characters come to life through her imagination, as she drew the pictures of them getting up to all sorts of pranks and mischief. One book led to another, and this is how ‘Douc’s Adventures In Mexico’ and ‘Douc’s Caribbean Cruise’ were created.
I am not sure I ever really thought about having a book
published. I would often write, just for the fun of it. Sometimes about my
travel adventures or something funny that had happened whilst working. Quite
simply, I just enjoyed writing. I also enjoyed drawing some of the amazing
creatures I met.
This is so lovely!
It is! However, eight years after my friend had sadly passed, I did wonder about publishing the Bandito and Douc books so I contacted my friend's husband. He still lived in France and we had kept in touch over the years.
When I asked how he would feel about me publishing the books with my friend's drawings he assured me that they had spoken about it and she had expected me to ask this question one day. I was amazed she had and was able to go ahead not just with his blessing but with hers too.
Aww, Jay, that's such a touching story.
