Tooth Fairy in Training: coming June 6

ALL HAIL BRIONY MAY SMITH!

'Just' a concept sketch... I KNOW! Art © Briony May Smith

Not only is she responsible for introducing me to pistachio and almond cookies, she also  deserves the credit for making our new book, Tooth Fairy in Training, so beautiful.
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Briony's work is beguiling and Walker Books have really done it  justice. The hardback is stunning - it even has an iridescent cover that really SPARKLES!

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How the story started.

I'm often asked where I get my ideas. Most often the honest answer is I don't know. But on this occasion I do, so I thought I'd tell you about it.

My kids both ask for 'a mummy made-up' every night. To translate: that's a flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, fully ad-libbed story about whatever topic they request. A few years back, that topic was the Tooth Fairy. Every night. For weeks.

​The kids wanted to know a lot. Where does she live? What if we stayed awake and saw her? Why does she need teeth? What about our pet kittens' teeth? 

'Mummy made-ups' aren't generally worthy of publication. Heck, most are barely worth a listen. But after night after night of mediocre 'made-ups', I hit upon an idea that really worked.

The fairy door in my daughter's room.

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Thanks for the idea, kiddos!

Another of Briony's CONCEPT SKETCHES. Unreal! Art © Briony May Smith

My kids had a good point: what about baby animals' teeth? There was a story in that - only instead of a kitten, I'd make it a tiger.

​I told my little muses a not-so-polished version of the story, tucked them in and crept downstairs to start writing. 

As all stories do, this one has evolved along the way (it was a sabre-toothed tiger and it didn't make the final cut). I couldn't be more delighted with how the resulting book turned out.

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Exercise your imagination and ideas will come.

Where do ideas come from? If you think like a kid and keep exercising your imagination, ideas will come easily.

​But books? Books come from graft.

​Nudge your characters in different directions. Work and clobber and grind and polish - and in the meantime, carry on making up some more. You might just hit upon something SPARKLY!