(Yes, we can vouch for her creative instinct!) I filled a mug with tea, a glass with water and a second glass with green smoothie for some healthy sugars, lest I fall faint during the 15-minute interview slot. It is largely futile, but with limited choice, it is what I do when I have an important event or appointment later that day.Īs lunchtime approached, I dressed in my favourite yellow T-shirt (for I am a children’s author who radiates sunshine) and set my desk up in a well-lit alcove adorned with art gallery postcards and a funky green tea towel hanging from a wooden board. Saving oneself is an active attempt to do very little in an endeavour to preserve one’s energy and defer pain until later in the day. On the day of the interview, I woke early, as I always do, and did that thing I do called “saving myself” until the interview which was due to take place at lunchtime. Saving oneself is an active attempt to do very little in an endeavour to preserve one’s energy and defer pain until later in the day The memory is more sensorial than a visual recollection rereading the opening image of the “cow jumping over the moon” in the “great green room”, transports me back to a place of warmth, safety and comfort, representative of my early years on this planet. My earliest memory is reading the picture-book classic, Goodnight Moon, with my parents. Children’s literature is one of the great loves of my life. Now, anyone who knows me would recognise that this is a big deal for me. I was recently invited to interview with a prominent children’s publisher in the UK.