Janice shares her creative inspiration

“When my children were toddlers, bedtime reading was a mixture of story books and, at their insistence, on the spot made-up tales. Three decades later, my grandchildren Nancy, Esme, Pearl and Robin, clamour for stories on tap from their “Nonna Jam!”

Since those early days, I’ve dreamt of committing these stories to paper; it feels surreal to be achieving this all these years later with A Friend for Mrs Mackenzie. I’ve loved every step of the process (a talented illustrator helps) and wonder now why it took so long. There are many more stories waiting impatiently on that internal dusty bookshelf. It’s time to release them.”

“Our son LOVES A Friend for Mrs Mackenzie! He laughs at all of the jokes and he loves the reveal at the end. A true testament to your writing and ability to pace out and structure the narrative.”