The next phase of development!

During the Pandemic years - seems a lifetime ago now - but the impact still clearly being felt by many young people even today; and Copter Duck got a bit of the professional illustrator treatment. Plum Illustrators loved the story and wanted to create a contemporary version. Together we chose the talented Sian Roberts to bring the story to life in picture book format, aimed at a younger audience than initially conceived all those years ago. Writing for 'littler ones' was a touch out of my comfort zone to be honest, and despite gallant efforts all round we hit a dead end in 2021. Book Fairs were online at the time, and although feedback from publishers was generous, we had no takers. But as you can see from the illustration below, Copter Duck morphed into something completely different in terms of style and narrative.

With a few more tweaks, I think it may have worked out. It was this version that Candy Jar picked up and asked me to go in another direction. Did I have a longer 'novella' style version hanging around? For7-9 year olds, perhaps? Think Captain Underpants. Well, I said - its not quite Underpants, but think Animal Farm meets Chicken Run. I pulled out the five chapters I wrote in 2015 for my Daniel. Half finished, but accompanying notes intact. A few characters were added - I've got these two goats - how about Messi and Ronaldo? my wife suggested without realising the GOAT connection. The new novella version also gave me the chance to really embed in the importance of disability and family support. I was so pleased too that the Racoons illustrator Terry Cooper has become part of the journey!

And finally the wait is over. Launch day is finally on the horizon. It's Time to Fly!