My sweet Mickey, watching me work on the admin side of writing the book... The story part was easy, the rest has been a steep learning curve!!!
And here it is - Yey!!!
Finally published on 12th November 2020
A little bit about me… Ibegan my career in Beauty Therapy way back in 1978, at Chesterfield College of Art and Design, qualifying in 1980. After growing up in the small market town of Warsop, Nottinghamshire, I moved to London for a while, and then to Nottingham, finally ending up in the amazing town of Frome in Somerset. In 1984 I helped set up the first beauty therapy course at Leicester College, and so began a rewarding teaching career helping others to begin their therapy journey... I had always dreamed of one day writing a book, which I had decided would be about the history of beauty therapy, having lived through a great deal of it!!! However, when my partner Christopher, a farrier, told me about how he gets the children on his round to help him wake up the little dragon who naps in his furnace, a whole new book emerged! 'Wakey wakey, Darren!' With the help of my amazing friend, artist and illustrator, Jo Joof, and of course Christopher and his stories, Chris the Farrier and Darren the Dragon sprang to life! '...Fall in love with sweet little Darren the Dragon, as he helps his friend, Chris the Farrier, to rescue nine baby ducklings, and finds out how Herbert the Horse gets shiny new shoes! A story of friendship, kindness and helpfulness with opportunities to learn and interact throughout, and an activity to complete at the end of the book. The first in a series of the adventures of a farrier and his little dragon friend. The stories in these books are inspired by the real life experiences of a farrier in his everyday work shoeing horses, set in and around the beautiful West Country of England...' Written by Julie Bowler and Illustrated by Jo Joof I am now a published author of a children's book! Launched globally on what would have been my dad Max and his twin brother Roy's birthdays. Gone, but always in our hearts... 20th November 2020 Julie x