Bower school pupil Thealie lands book publishing deal
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A Bower primary pupil has followed in her mum's footsteps to become a published children's author.
Eight-year-old Thealie Hall landed a multi-book contract with international publisher Blurb.
Thealie has already had two books released, The Very Happy Monkey Plays Hide and Seek and more recently Super Kitty and the Glob of Gloop.
Being an author runs in the family with her mum Elspeth Grace Hall finding success in the children's fiction market with her Adventures of Puss-Puss series, also published by Blurb.
Elspeth said: "I was submitting a number of new manuscripts when Thealie brought me a little hand-drawn manuscript.
"She asked if I could send it to the publisher. She had clearly spent a lot of time and effort on it so I put it in with my manuscripts with a cover letter asking the editor if they would mind sending back a letter of encouragement.
"As her parents we thought Thealie’s story was good but I know what a tough market the publishing world is – being a good story isn’t good enough.
"A story has to fit in with the current fashions and not clash with anything the publisher may already hold or have in the pipeline in order to become a book. I honestly wasn’t expecting anything more than a 'thank you for your submission' letter.
"Next thing we know in among my new contracts was one for Thealie. The publisher not only loved the story but they loved the illustrations too.
I chose a cat for Super Kitty and the Glob of Gloop because cats are my favourite animal.
"A lot of people ask if Thealie is self published – they assume because she is so young it must be a vanity thing. She isn’t.
"Thealie is traditionally published, she sends in manuscripts and receives royalties just like J K Rowling, though it will be a while before she reaches bestseller status."
For Thealie herself, it's a dream come true and she's not resting on her laurels with another book being planned out.
She said: "I started writing proper stories when I was in primary one. My teacher was always very impressed with my 'wow words'. That is the phrase we use in class for big descriptive words like stupendous.
"I read the book out to my friends in class and everybody was impressed. One of my friends wants to write a book now.
"My mummy had to tell the teachers about copyright. One of my teachers recorded me reading my book and mummy had to tell her she couldn't put the recording on the internet because that was breaking copyright.
"With my book characters, I chose a monkey for my first one because monkeys are funny. I chose a cat for Super Kitty and the Glob of Gloop because cats are my favourite animal.
"There will be another book after Super Kitty. My next one will be called Monstrolia. It will about monsters and aliens meeting together to stop the aliens from hunting monsters."
