Fairy Day Games follows a creative and imaginative child who goes on a whimsical adventure to the Fairy Day Games, meets fairies and discovers new friends. What was the inspiration for your story?

I was actually writing another fairy story at the time and one night my husband and I decided to watch an old movie. The movie was located in a very small, quaint town which was holding an old fashioned county fair. 

My mind turned to fairies as it often does when I am writing and I wondered, what if the fairies had a fair? A whole day of fun and games organized by the fairy folk and their magical friends. What would that be like? After that, the rhymes just started coming to me.

What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?

One thing that was important to me was that I wanted to have a lot of diversity in Fairy World. That was one of the things I remembered from the fairy stories of my childhood – everyone was a different creature but it didn’t matter. They all lived and worked together and were helpful and kind, no matter if you were a fairy, a mole or an imp. There was zero discrimination. 

The art in this book is fantastic. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator David Gnass?

David Gnass, the very talented illustrator of Fairy Day Games, did the art for my first book A Fairy On My Sleeve, so I knew I wanted him again for Fairy Day Games. I gave him some broad guidelines and my vision for the book, then basically just gave him the reins. 

He really did a beautiful job with the illustrations. One thing I wanted was a lot of detail in the pictures, so even younger children who didn’t read yet could look at the pictures for hours and see something new each time. He certainly did accomplish this. 

As I had collaborated with him before, I wanted to see what he came up with on his own, character wise and I absolutely adore the characters he created.

Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out and what can your fans expect in the next story?

This is my second fairy book but it is not exactly a series, it is more of a theme. I have two more books ready for illustration – both with fairies – and two more works in progress, one being my first chapter book. 

I am also working on a musical project, a wonderful album of songs for children. The first song is going to be filmed as a video this summer and hopefully will be released in the autumn. It is all very exciting!

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Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2024/04/16/zero-discrimination/