Gotcha Preschool Series - Bookseller Announcement

Gotcha - Templar Book Deal Announcement

Before I reveal a little more about this exciting news, a little backstory may be required to explain how I got to this point.

In late 2018 I took a break from making children's books. This was largely due to a downturn in my mental health and I needed to put myself and family first.

I still wanted to make art and write stories, but this time just for myself, in my sketchbook. It was about play, without pressure.

During this time, I began exploring printmaking techniques more deeply, something I had first discovered and fallen in love with while studying for my MA in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. My first two published books were illustrated using very different printmaking methods: sock ink impressions (The Story of Tantrum O'Furrily) and monoprinting (The Lost Horse). The book that won the Lara Jones Award (Macmillan Prize) was created using potato printing.

Yet despite all this experimentation, I hadn’t quite found my true love in printmaking, and I was eager to discover it.

Whilst working in a school art department in Cardiff as a technician the art teacher, who was a talented artist and had a particular flair and passion for lino cutting would create some inspirational work in class. I had dabbled in lino cutting before but I was reminded in that moment just how beautiful the technique was and how unpredictable and exciting the final printing process was. Something magical happens between the cutting of lino and the final reveal and this really excited me as a maker. It was so hands on, messy, fun and I loved every part of the process.

Fast forward to 2020, and I’d found myself in a good place again. With fresh visions for storytelling, I wanted to lean into my strengths and rediscover the joy in making children’s books. Drawing on my modelmaking skills, I also began exploring paper engineering again, playing with flaps, different paper types, and other moving parts and started weaving my words and pictures through these interactive elements, brought to life by my newly discovered passion for lino cutting. Lovely things began to happen with my stories, they looked so playful, bold, colourful, and full of energy that I had to pursue it further. WIth this technique I felt I had discovered my true voice and I was eager to begin creating stories again, this time with publication in mind.

I began writing the first Gotcha book during the Covid pandemic. It was always planned as a series but getting the first book to function and flow effectively was key to the series working. Over the next 4 years I would tweak the original Gotcha book many times, making lots of dummies to get the story and flap features working perfectly so the story bounced in and out of the flaps and over the pages with a delicious ending.

Once the book was successfully working, I created 2 more Gotcha books and then patiently waited another year for my youngest daughter to turn 4 in early 2025. I would then pitch it to publishers via my agent Paul Moreton.

That moment arrived in mid to late 2025 as the summer drifted away, and then this whirlwind of happiness happened. I've been itching to share this news for some time and it feels great to do that now. I will leave the official publisher announcement here to read at the end of my words.

I'm looking forward to the coming years as the Gotcha books are published with Gotcha Dog and Gotcha Rabbit coming first in 2027. I've worked in schools for many years so I'm so excited at the prospect of visiting schools and sharing my stories, having fun with children and grown ups with crafts and reading galore, it's going to be very interactive and lots of fun. I'm planning this right now.

I do want to highlight my new publisher, Templar. They are specialists in novelty and paper engineering and were the perfect fit for the Gotcha books and they've been an absolute dream to work with. They have elevated my books to another level through their skills, talent and love of making books and I can't wait to share these in 2027 when publication day arrives. It's a team effort and I feel so welcomed and part of their family.

I will end this post by saying this was always my dream, which began way back in 2006, a generation ago now. My hope back then was to make preschool books and it's taken me a long time to get to this position, to finally find my voice in an area of children's books that I absolutely love.

To anyone following the same path as me who dreams of being a creator of children’s books, know that it can be a difficult journey with many ups and downs. I've had a lot over the last 20 years. In some ways I think to truly find yourself you have to go through the pain barriers, the creative process is designed to test you because you have so much to search for. My advice is to push through, make mistakes, learn from them, always do the things you love, play and explore, follow your head and heart, look after your wellbeing, work VERY hard, research and read like you've never read before, and NEVER give up and most of all, be you because that's where the magic lives!!

If you do all the above, bingo! You've found you and dreams can come true.