Lena Keshvari
I became interested in writing stories for children at a young age. I was increasingly encouraged when I won the school story competition for writing a short story called 'Katy and the Mole'.
I have a strong relationship with my mother who has always encouraged and advised me from the beginning but never interfered in my decisions.
I had a strict upbringing and socialising was not what we did in my father's household, so I immersed myself in reading and writing and making my own friends on paper through stories, poems, art and a hell of a lot of doodling!.
I have, like many budding new authors written numerous stories, however, I self published my first and only book so far because I wanted not only to see my work in print but to understand the process from start to finish.
Publishing in general is a difficult field to get into and even more so within children's publishing and therefore getting a grasp of the processes before the 'glossy' look was and still is extremely important to me.
The enjoyment I get in children reading my stories is immense, it's the ability to look through the eyes of a child and be just as exhilerated as they are in finding out about the strange and wonderful characters and walking with them into a different world making every story a journey unraveled through the flick of a page.
Writing fictional stories for children is to me like opening a hidden door that many grown ups forget about in the midst of life and all its meandering roads and once I put pen to paper my characters come to life.
Arthur the worm is the first character in a series. Read about Arthur and his friends before you decide to buy the book.