Birth of a Book

 

The Monster Under The Bed was the result of me getting a rush of inspiration one Friday morning. I had intended to tidy the house, but when inspiration strikes, it’s no time to get the vacuum out! I’d had an idea in my head for a while, but suddenly it had to be written. By lunch time, my house was still a tip, but I had the first draft of my story along with little sketch drawings. It was the first time I’d done this, planning it out as a complete picture book, rather than just writing the story. It was fun, but my drawings were never destined to make it into the final book. 

I had already made enquiries about self-publishing at this stage. The publishers I contacted seemed to take a very honest approach, none of them promised instant fame or fortune. I decided on Trafford as they offered the best package for me, at a price I could afford, and at a time when I needed all the help I could get, they were a friendly voice at the other end of a phone line.

I had been trying to decide which of my stories to publish, but as I wrote The Monster Under The Bed – the decision was made. I didn’t bother sending it out to slush piles, so I’ll never know if it would have been rejected or not. Birth of a book, that’s what it felt like, and I enjoyed it every step of the way. I used an artist from Trafford’s talent pool for the illustrations.

When my first box of books arrived the hard part began. Now I had to start selling!

The Monster Under The Bed was published in January 2005 and opened up a whole new world to me, and led me to:

• Open a new school library and read my stories to the children.
• Have articles published, including a double page spread in the Self Publishing magazine.
• Feature twice in Writers News.
• Read to children at Creepy Crawlies Play barn as part of their family learning week.

I have done book signings at:

• School fairs
• Craft fairs
• A swimming gala
• Borders in York  which then paved the way for a book launch at Borders for my second book Doodle Mayhem.

 

So what's it all about?

"Mum Mum..." There's a monster under my bed. Billy sits up in the dark, he can hear something moving around in his bedroom. When his mum puts the light on there's no monster to be seen. But when Mum goes back downstairs the noises start again. "Get back into bed Billy," calls Mum. Something is making a noise, and if it isn't Billy  who can it be?