Once upon a time

I wrote a story for children. I suppose if it were put under even the tiniest amount of scrutiny it should be reclassified as a story for childless adults who like to imagine that the offspring of their dreams would adore this stuff. It is more-or-less equal parts; historically educational; environmentally friendly; multi-lingual; and socially right-on. And it's a million times more locally truthful and relevant than 'Mamma Mia' ever was.

I involved volunteer editors, translators and an illustrator, it was a great big fun colourful project to work on, and mostly without tantrums having no child involvement. One author, one editor, one illustrator, six translators and one multi-lingual editor.

I approached various publishers but the whole thing was really that bit too cumbersome to put it out as kid-lit. We stagnated for a few years. [and in case you were on the brink of suggesting that we self-publish, please don't. Greek law is, shall we say, a little bit odd? As peasants registered to rent out furnished rooms we are not permitted to sell eggs, vegetables or home-made jam. We most certainly cannot sell books]

A day or two ago the illustrator began to negotiate a local exhibition and I leapt at the chance. Since then I have gone totally boss-eyed trying to re-format the whole product from a children's picture-book to a walk-in-off-the-street exhibition. I have been formatting text in five differently coloured languages and ensuring that the words in each language match the illustration for that page. It's the most fun I've had in years! Which probably explains why my eyes are feeling blind right now!