Children’s Books & Authors- Julie Hatton

I´d like to start my cycle on Children´s books and their authors with Julie Hatton today.  There is so much available in children´s literature and I thought it would be a good idea to have authors present their work to us so we can get to know them a little bit better.

I was inspired to become a children’s author by Enid Blyton. I remain an avid fan to this day. A love of writing stories also inspired me to write many short stories for my nephews and nieces when they were little and later for their own children. When I became an English teacher, I also wrote short stories to facilitate various modules I created for my pupils.

Recently I have written a few tales for a collection of short stories written by my wonderfully dedicated group of writers collectively known as Bugs2writes. The group was set up in order to write and publish books of short stories to raise funds for ACTION MEDICAL RESEARCH FOR CHILDREN. 100% of profits go to the charity. A few decades ago, I did write a children’s novel and hope to publish that very soon to raise further funds for the charity.

I don’t find older children’s stories any more difficult than other genres, in fact, I find them a little easier. This could be because I think I have read every book Enid Blyton wrote many times over. I have a huge library of her books still. With only a few rare exceptions, I read nothing BUT Blyton until I was fifteen when my older sister introduced me to Dennis Wheatley. Since then, of course, I have read most of the children’s classics many times and modern children’s authors. I still love to read books written for older children

In my, as yet unpublished novel, I created a character very close to my heart:  Cindy, the pig. She was based on a piglet I raised from birth and who became my friend until she left the small-holding at eighteen-months old. In the book, Cindy has a series of exciting adventures with four children.

For the Bugs2writes’ published book, Children’s Short Stories, I created a special character called Mammy Rat who lives on an island with hundreds of other rats. Mammy Rat symbolizes all loving, hardworking mothers and with so many children she is kept very busy at all times. She features in my four stories based on children who have a magic raft which sails them across the sea to Rat Island. There they encounter the rats and help them to solve mysteries on their island. One story for instance, is entitled: ‘The Case of the Missing Jewels.’

The other writers in the group have written an eclectic mix of exciting stories for children, too, in a variety of genres. All the stories in the book are written to amuse, entertain and inform the young minds reading it.

I thoroughly enjoyed writing my novel with Cindy, the pig, as the main character. I was in my mid-twenties at the time and I finished the novel in record time. Unashamedly, it is clear my Blyton heritage runs like a river through it!

I also enjoyed writing The Magic Raft series of stories very much indeed. Reliving my childhood through the stories I write provides a tranquil escape from the rigors of daily life.

The age group for the above stories is for ages 8 – 12, though younger children would enjoy listening to them, too.

In 2018, Bugs2writes hopes to write and publish another two children’s books of short stories for charity, the first of which will be published very soon.

I also hope to publish my novel with Cindy the pig as the main character this year.

Bug2writes has also penned and published a further four books for charity in other genres suitable for teens to adult: Horror, Assorted, Autobiography and Science Fiction and Supernatural. More will be coming soon.

Please visit:

Website: Bugs2writes.co.uk

Facebook Page: Bugs2writes for Charity

Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/bugs2writes

Paperbacks can be purchased from:

lulu.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.com

Ebooks from:

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com

The photo of our mascot bear with our books symbolizes the group’s collective author name / profile.