The Butterfly Heart is the first one of the books I have written that is being published, and I feel extremely privileged to have ended up with Walker Books.
My own children grew up on Walker books - at no stage in our lives has there been a bookshelf without their titles on it. When I started thinking of writing for children I could not, in my wildest dreams, have imagined that one day I would be published by them. Yet here I am, clutching my book, and there's that little bear down at the bottom of the spine, holding his candle.
Before being published I had heard and read horror stories of working with editors and designers, demons who would change your words and let you have no say in the cover design ... If there are any demons at Walker Books I didn't find them. The editing process was painless and I could mutter away to my hearts content about the design of the cover and the designer listened. I had precious little to mutter about mind you as I loved her design.
So, a big thank you to the Walker crew for making this experience so good.
