It’s taken approximately 35 years for me to bring my new children’s to fruition. And now, at last, Lucky Dips and Christmas Wishes is available on Amazon and selected bookshops.

I originally wrote and drew the illustrations for this festive children’s story for my son, Dan, when he was about five years old and we were living in Nottingham. I must have been among the first stay-at-home Dads (known at the time as “house-husbands”) who juggled childcare responsibilities with working as a freelance writer and illustrator, I can still picture the dining table where I sketched the first illustrations showing a boy called Tom who is out shopping, keen to spend the pocket money he’s saved to buy a Christmas present for his Mum.

He is attracted by the sounds of a banjo playing across the busy market square which is packed with bustling crowds of shoppers. Following the ker-plunking sounds he finds the Banjo Man, a strange-looking figure who has a large sack full of Christmas dips.

The mysterious man’s engaging style and happy grin tempts the boy to spend his pocket money on a lucky dip. He pulls out a brightly coloured parcel and runs home with it. Up in his room he unwraps the package to find a box of Christmas Wishes. This became the working title for the story.

After Tom tests the Wishes and finds they are real he rushes back to see the Banjo Man to seek his help in the best way to use them. But, one of his test wishes was for snow and this causes him to slip and drop the box. The four remaining Christmas Wishes float out and disappear above the heads of the grumpy shoppers. Tom chases after them and to his dismay hears various people in the crowd make wishes – which come true, with strange and amusing effects. Giant Christmas puddings roll down the street and Father Christmas makes an unexpected appearance,

Thirty-five years ago it was not easy getting a book published – and it was even harder with a children’s book. Aspiring authors needed a literary agent and landing one was difficult. I know, I tried. So it was that my Christmas Wishes book ended up languishing in a drawer, along with several other of my efforts. But it was a story that I always believed in. When Kindle enabled authors the opportunity to self-publish on Amazon it was a real boon. To date, having published seven books for children which I have also illustrated, I thought it was time to dust off my Christmas Wishes story and give it a new lease of life.

Will it sell? Who knows? To be successful, self-published authors must spend many hours promoting and marketing their work. Although I used to work in advertising and PR, this is not something that interests me. I’d much rather be writing and illustrating one of the new stories I find going around my head in the wee small hours.

All I can do is hope that people will somehow discover my books and enjoy them.

Here’s a link to Lucky Dips and Christmas Wishes on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DNSDQHDC

There follows more examples of initial sketches next to finished artwork for the book.