Unexpected things happen when you least expect it

Another month we haven’t seen go by since we last wrote. And it’s been quite a month! Sandra here had a thyroid operation, it was very unexpected, but nothing sinister, and it went well except for the horrible allergic reaction to the surgical tape. It must have been on her face for not much longer than an hour or two, but the result was impressive. It went bright angry itchy red and was all swollen for several days, then a pink stripe from ear to ear for almost two weeks. Who knew you could be allergic to surgical tape! Not the things we expected to deal with a month before publication of our Wilomina graphic novel, and amidst tight deadlines for Book 2. But the face is now almost healed, the scar on her neck isn’t too bad, so all is well. Sandra was back to drawing only one week after leaving the hospital, and has now completed 165 pages of pencils for Book 2.

Advance review copies of Wilomina have been out in the wild and the feedback so far is terrific. The ultimate test is when children read your book, and a few mums have reported on Instagram that their child loved it. Noah (9) says “ It has suddenly now entered my top 5 books!!”.

We’ve got plans to serialise the first two chapters right here on Substack, starting in a couple of weeks or so. Meantime, here’s a making-of video.

Thanks for reading,

John & Sandra