I’ve always loved fairy stories and folk tales. When I was little my dad read me a story every night before I went to sleep, and I think the tales of Hans Christian Andersen went into my bones! I especially loved the stories where the underdog (usually the youngest, ignored child) eventually became the hero… and that thought has stayed with me in all my writing.

Now – I wasn’t a youngest child. I was in the middle – but I still felt ignored (I don’t think I really was!!). All the same, that got me thinking about other characters that were written off as useless, (or evil) just because of who they were. Ogres seemed to have a lot of trouble in stories… even trolls sometimes had a moment of glory, but ogres? Never! So, I decided that, like any group of people, or giants, or cats, or witches, there must be good ogres as well as bad ones.

I first introduced a good ogre in The Adventures of Alfie Onion… and I had huge fun writing about her! So, when it came to writing another story, I wanted more ogres… and I decided on a whole kingdom – with a good ogre as king! But of course there had to be a problem… so I invented a really evil ogre. The kind that I’d read about in Dick Whittington and Jack and the Beanstalk.

I also popped in some more of my childhood feelings. Like I said, I was a middle child… and it seemed to me that my little brother got ALL the attention! I thought he was spoilt! So… my ogre king has a thoroughly spoiled little grandson (it’s huge fun writing about badly behaved children!).

My favourite character is Monnie. He makes a terrible mistake because he’s big and clumsy, and is in a hurry to please his mother – and he spends the whole story trying to make up for it (and what is he? An ignored youngest child – well, ogre). I have two very tall grandsons, and they are always knocking things over or bumping themselves on low ceilings… it’s a real problem! But somehow it makes them vulnerable, and loveable. I really wanted to make Monnie like that. He may be clumsy, but he can still have a real adventure and be a very important part of it.

As you can see – my family experiences creep into my stories! I put myself in too – a gran who doesn’t want to be left behind! I do have a sneaky little wish that I’d given her more action at the end of the story, but I couldn’t. It’s Maudie, Jimmy and Monnie’s story… and I really hope that you enjoy it!

P.S. I also LOVE cake!