Mums Reward Charts - Kat takes a step towards her dream!

I'm delighted to report that another mum has already been inspired by our Mums' Reward Charts! The lovely Kat Pearce took a first step towards her dream of becoming a childrens' book author by interviewing award-winning author Giles Paley-Phillips. Read Kat's report below...

This months #somum make date on twitter was to make our own reward chart. We could choose anything to put on there and our own rewards for completing each task. I put "self improvement" on my chart as I never make any time to follow my interests or dreams and it's about time I did!

        

One of the things I have always wanted to do is write a set of childrens books (so this would come under self improvement on my chart). Feeling inspired I decided to start writing down my ideas. 

Coincidentally, I received a #FF (Follow Friday) on Twitter from a name I didn't recognize. As it turns out this lovely chap is an author of..... yes , you guessed it, Childrens Books! The award winning Mr Giles Paley-Phillips (@tenderbranson10). Who better to offer some guidance to a wannabe author?!

After exchanging a few tweets I boldly (for me) asked if he would be interested in a Question and Answer blog post. Luckily for me, he agreed! 

 

Giles Paley-Phillips: On nonsense, tenacity and writing in your lunch hour

Were you confident in your abilities as an author when you started writing? 

 I have to say no, not at all, I have always been a musician and I used to write lyrics, but when my first son was born I really wanted to write something for him, but I was unsure what to write, then one day I came across a book ofpoetry by Shel Silverstein, and it was a eureka moment, I went back to work and in my lunch hour I wrote my first manuscript.

Who is your favourite childrens author?

I would have to say Shel Silverstein.

Did have a feeling at the time your books would be popular?

No I had no idea how they would be received  you never do, and the reaction to all my books has been truly staggering and humbling.

How did you go about finding an illustrator and publisher? 

I sent off a couple of stories to publishers and was very fortunate to get a deal very quickly, but it's been a real learning curve since. The publisher always commissions the illustrators.

What would your advice be to anyone hoping to start writing? 

Just believe in what you're doing, and don't give up, be tenacious.

What do your boys think of your books? 

 I'm very happy to say that they really do like them, which is so special.

I must say, I feel quite inspired and positive that maybe this isn't a goal beyond my reach, as I once thought. With that in mind, I would like to thank Giles for his time in answering my questions and also sending me a copy of his fabulous new book, Tamara Small and the Monsters Ball. We all love it here and highly recommend it! 

I would also like to thank Pippa at Story of Mum for another inspirational, soul searching month on my quest for a better, brighter me. You're truly fabulous!

 

Thanks Kat! This month we're encouraging mums to make Mums' Reward Charts - because mums deserve gold stars too. And sometimes we need a little push towards the big bright dream we also truly deserve. Go Kat!

Read about how my reward chart is inspiring me too, and find out what other mums think mums should be rewarded for, including just getting up in the morning...