A mixed bag of a day – then came Subbie and his mate

Yesterday was a mixed bag, as days go. For ten frantic minutes I thought I’d lost important documents on my way back from the bank (warning – it’s possible for papers to work their way up from your back pocket into the back of your windcheater).

Once those papers were found, I discovered that my little grandson’s plastic sensory playmat (fishpond) had sprung a leak on to an important information record book containing all our past and current financial information. What followed was a re-enactment of the scene in Love Actually where Colin Firth attempts to rescue his wip novel as it floats, page by page, in the lake. In our back garden I was attempting to rescue and dry out 40 paper-soaked pages of figures – pebbles holding them down as some fluttered about in the sunshine and wind (I did manage to save most.)

Then right in the midst of that drama, the doorbell rang. Both four-footed house guests ran to protect me and the house (mini sausage dog taking on the persona of a Doberman while the normally well-behaved Golden Retriever supported him.)

Standing there was a courier holding a bundle of new books – Subbie and his mate. For authors and illustrators of children’s books, this is both the most exciting, and terrifying type of day. For two hours I was unable to open the package . . . ‘Would I be happy?’ ‘Would it do all the things a picture book should do?’ and with this one, ‘Would it honour a beautiful horse called Subzero (affectionately known as Subbie) and his best mate, Graham Salisbury?’

At around 5.00 p.m. I summoned the courage to look. There is always something about holding, reading and smelling a book. It doesn’t matter how many times you look at it on screen – the real thing is always better. And this one is!

Launch is February 27. Information to come. Official release is March 1st.