Many many moons ago when I could only visit Cornwall as our family holiday destination, I used to sit in the Tea Garden of the Riverside Hotel, Boscastle- scribbling ideas down for a children’s book. Then, they were ideas for a picture book called ‘When Lally-Ann Twinkles’ ( those scribblings still exist in a dusty creative corner of my mind…debating whether using my own name is just a tad too egotistical, lol)
Anyhow- I digress!
What happened next was a serendipitous encounter with someone serving me my fave cup of Earl Grey.
Enter Andy Templar – we got chatting & he liked the sound of my story & showed me some drawings & cartoons he’d done for his young children, including absolutely fabulous murals for their bedroom walls.
I was blown away & that meeting stayed with me for many years- knowing it happened for a reason……….. IT CERTAINLY DID!
In 2016, we finally moved to North Cornwall. By then, my scribblings had progressed to empowering stories for older children & I had a main character, called Mossy!
In the meantime, Andy, still working at ‘The Riverside’ had had a chance encounter, himself, with a Disney illustrator and producer. He too, was blown away by Andy’s artwork & such praise renewed Andy’s enthusiasm , urging him to concentrate more on his artistic endeavours.
And the rest, as they say is history- well, it is- although, adding to that, you are also all witnessing history in the making! Andy has not only created Mossy from my ideas but has gone on to illustrate the whole book for me – including the front cover!
His fantastic artwork has enabled me to add wonderful complimentary illustrations to the first book in the ‘Kids of Kernow’ series ‘Magical Mossy in Boscastle’, ready for publication!
( He’s also illustrating books 2 & 3 which are in the pipeline!)
I’m still blown away by his artwork & his intuition, enabling him to extract exactly what I’m after -just by listening to my skittish creative ramblings.
I suspect I’d best hold onto him for as long as I can, just in case that chap from Disney pops back to Boscastle to make him an offer he can’t refuse!
( You can read more about Andy & how to contact him at https://kidsofkernow.com/meet-the-team/)
PS Mossy really has come to life……she even has her own FB page!www.facebook.com/mossykidsofkernow
Kids of Kernow 
Enjoy to read how you two met and how he made Mossy came to life🤗. He is a gifted artist xx
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