Why I wrote 'Short Stories for Little Plants'

On the eve that I realise my new book, 'Short Stories for Little Plants', I thought it a good idea to explain the deeper meanings as to why I wrote it. I have always wanted to write an illustrated book, using the drawing style that has been so popular on my fabric-scented cards, but I didn't feel a book full of illustrations would be anything special or spectacular, and I have already published a fictional book, 'Element Tree', back in 2015. I spent hours considering all the things I have experienced that I could use as a basis for some unique short stories, and concluded I could use my love for gardening, art, and travel to build stories comprised of personal experiences. Shortly after I was pruning my Lady of Shalott apricot orange rose, talking to her as I deadheaded and removed spent blooms, I realised I had the perfect idea: stories about plants to read to plants. Talking to plants is not kookie or a form of wizardry; it has extensively been proven to have amazing effects on plant health. I explain all of this is a short chapter at the start of the book.

My love for gardening and plants started when I was about 5, when grandads would take me to smell the rose garden, pick tomatoes in the greenhouse, whilst enjoying eating sun-warmed gooseberries, picked and eaten on the spot—you soon learn a ripe from an unripe gooseberry! I moved out of my childhood home at 18 and lived at the riding stables where I had worked at weekends for 5 years, and I remember tending to hanging baskets and flowering tubs outside my living quarters.

Today I have a rambling cottage garden with classic narrow winding paths, between flowerbeds devoid of any spare space, as hollyhocks, honeysuckles, roses, and sweet peas fill the evening's air with scents sent from heaven, as

plants jostle for some room. I enjoy my garden year-round and will sit on a chilly, sunny morning, wrapped up in plenty of layers, to read a book in the sunshine. This practice may come from working outdoors with horses in all weathers, rain or shine, where the need to be outdoors becomes almost insistent.

My love for art started when I left school and went to art college, where I did my first B/Tec in vocational design. I went back to college as a mature student, which was without doubt the best thing I have ever done, as during the 11 qualifications I gained, I was taught various computer design programs, such as Photoshop and CAD. There were trips to London to go see the treasures at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum, and I organised budget, back-packing trips round

Italy each summer. No matter which certificate I was working towards, whether an A Level in Art History, another B/Tec, HND and degree in design, culminating in a masters degree in Italian glass, I was always attracted to the Arts and Crafts Movement. An aesthetic, decorative reaction to the mass production of the Industrial Revolution, focussing on nature-inspired handcrafted wares of unique utility, this movement sums up my own opinion of today's handcrafted wares. My own Etsy shop has items that nobody else is making, completely handcrafted from raw materials, with packaging and a customer service of the same high quality. My Victorian cottage is decorated with William Morris wallpapers, so I am surrounded by the art style that I love.

Short Stories for Little Plants is a collection of twelve stories, with the twelfth having a little hidden twist. My travelling experiences to Italy, Jordan, Egypt, Menorca, Temby, New England, and the Canadian wilderness all left passionate, lasting memories, which I have used in this book to remind readers that our natural world has so much more to offer than reality shows, the internet, technology, and a modern disconnection from the planet. The natural world is so good for our health, (a little known fact is that years ago hospitals had sundecks for beds, so poorly people could benefit from pure sunshine), and nature never fails to impress, marvel, and surprise, it'll never let you down. 

Little Plant is almost like an Arts and Crafts Movement 2.0 book, where I am detaching myself from the Internet Revolution and a complete avoidance of detested AI. As a creative person, I find AI repulsive, degenerate, and completely lacking, aimed at taking away human emotion

from literature and the visual arts. For this reason, I have accessorised the book with brass, decorative corners, a unique built-in bookmark with a leaf charm (five different leaf shapes), and hand-stamped packaging with gift card, to match the uniqueness of this book. Little Plant is my attempt to stretch the imagination and escape from the toxicity of the internet and the anxieties of modern adulting. It has been written in a specific way, a mixture of verse, poetry, and ultra-descriptive observations to tell the stories of different things plants have to deal with.

There's a modern saying, 'no one shells peas with Grandma anymore!', meaning Grandma Wisdom isn't being passed down to the younger generations like it used to be. Well, I'm a grandma, and I've put plenty of 'p's' into Little Plant, so let's get shelling!

Short Stories for Little Plants is available here