Early in 2019, I was feeding a neighbour’s cat when they were on holiday. One morning, I opened their front door to find that the cat had left me a thank you gift on the doormat: a little mouse, who looked just like he was lying fast asleep in the sun. But the adventures for this mouse were over. The cat had made sure of that.
A day or so after that, I woke up very early in the morning with a fully formed rhyming verse bouncing around in my head all about a little mouse. I got up, still in my pyjamas, and wrote it down. And I felt a tingle of excitement that something quite magical had come to life. It seemed to me like the mouse who had woken me so early with a story to tell could have been that unfortunate mouse I had found on my neighbour’s doormat, and that maybe he was asking me to give him a different ending.
I felt a tingle of excitement that something quite magical had come to life
Arturo was very persistent for the next few weeks, whispering his story into my imagination. He was such fun to write about and it seemed like he was a character that wanted to get out into the world. And so his quest to become the star of a children's story book began in earnest.
After a year and a half of collaborating with wonderful Auckland-based illustrator, Hannah Sames, Arturo is finally in the hands of Kale Print, Tauranga, and on his way to becoming a fully fledged, '100% made in New Zealand' book. I'm not sure I could be more excited.
'Arturo and the Glitter Glue' will be available to buy from the end of October, and can be pre-ordered now via www.elainewilliamsauthor.com.
