Beyond the pages
The idea for Paddy Plum started off as something slightly different to what ended up being published. The original idea was conceived when my son asked for a bedtime story. All his books were downstairs, so I decided to do what any parent does and just improvise. I just started making things up, such as the pizza rocket and the next day, I sat down and tried seeing how far I could take it. The original manuscript for the book was more or less a poem and I sat on this idea for the best part of a year. When it came time to developing the book, some major changes had to be made. I was lucky enough to have a relative who was in the publishing industry who guided me on how to properly develop my story in to a book. I was also in touch with an illustrator through a mutual friend, who gave me his rate and a month later, I was getting concept art coming through. The refreshing thing about this was the freedom I had for how all the illustrations looked in my book. I was presented with amazing i...