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This month emmaheaven.com is shining the spotlight on...

Sara Di Sorrenti

I wrote my very first children's book several years ago for my daughter. She would bound home like an excited gazelle; all long legs and glossy blonde hair, wanting to know how many pages I had written.

As this book finally launches, I hope that it pleases her.

However, ‘The Skonk of Tawk Valley’ series has progressed, and there are now 15 books in total. All will be turned into hardback, with full colour, double page illustrations.

They are based not only on the Skonk, but Tawk Valley itself, with an assortment of characters. Some are rather mystical and some - quite frankly - are rather a handful!

They all have individual, strong minds, possessing unique nuances and their own set of ways.

Writing for me is never a chore; the starkness of an empty page is not to be feared, but gladly embraced.

Once a new book gets started that's it! It takes over. It rules me. It can literally command my days and nights. I ‘become one’ with Tawk Valley to such an extent that I visit there, which for a writer is a real blessing, as it makes everything seem all the more real.

One particularly pleasurable aspect of the process is breathing life into the illustrations.

I find myself going into so much detail, that an individual scene can be like writing a book all of its own, even down to me envisaging how the ripples on the water should look, which colour a certain flower should be, deliberation over the seasons, and how the weather will command a scene matters too.

There is a great amount of detail to consider, which I believe is vital in the process of creating a children's book; each and every one of the illustrations must be convincing and credible for children, as children can be exceptionally harsh critics!

During this journey as a debut writer my kind thanks go out to:

• My publisher Justin Jones, CEO at Socciones.
• Keegan Blazey, my spellbindingly gifted illustrator, so he too literally sees what I see.
• The delightful Cecilia Cristelo, who takes hundreds of my handwritten pages and turns them into a meticulously typed manuscript. I value her patience and dedication.
• And naturally, the very lovely Emma Heaven for making this feature possible.

The Skonk has been rather busy, he now has a Website, and Instagram and Facebook pages, where he has made many new friends from around the world.

www.skonkoftawkvalley.com/ The book is available to purchase from Amazon or download from Amazon Kindle Store.
Instagram: skonkoftawkvalley
Facebook: Skonk Of Tawk Valley

I'm hoping that in the future, The Skonk of Tawk Valley will be able to progress into the realm of Animation - be it a televised children's series, an animated film, or even an adventurous gaming project for children. There are lots of avenues for the Skonk to dip his paw into!

I'm currently writing ~ The Skonk of Tawk Valley: The Snarling Rotfell Of Backbraker Bridge, and his constant trials with the black hearted Coiling Nantry.

My second book, The Skonk of Tawk Valley: And The Firefly Meadow, launches in Spring 2021 and after a journey to where my parents used to take me as a child, I shall dedicate the book to the Memory of the little Welsh children of: "We Are Seven", St Mary’s Church, Conwy, Wales.

It's a heartbreaking story of sadness and loss, and when I visited there it profoundly affected me. But as I believe all souls live on forever, I hope that knowledge of the book reaches them and makes them happy.

For be it past or present.
Especially now in such surreal noir times.
We all need a fairy story in our lives.
Maybe sometimes far more than we may realize ...