All the Seasons
Early in January 2020 I pitched a book idea, casually over coffee, not really thinking much of it at the time. I planned to put together a more in-depth proposal to see if the idea ‘had legs’ but just 1 week after this meeting, we found out we’d be moving to Sweden — the proposal was put on the back-burner while we prepared for the move, but things were derailed all over again with the pandemic hitting Australia, shutting down the studio, and trying to work out when and how we’d move to a new country.
Working from home during quarantine in March and April, I put together the proposal and was formally offered a book deal in early June. Thinking back on this time now is such a strange memory; so many unknowns in every facet of life, and all of those days blurred in together. I started working on the manuscript in June, and developed the writing over the next couple of months. Every surface of our tiny apartment was covered with book paraphernalia at one point or another, deciphering colour palettes with Bunnings paint swatches on the bed, and sticking edits to the walls to make the most of any flat surface I could access.
Each memory of the writing and illustrations now are tied to the life events we were experiencing at the time… a ‘working holiday’ for my dad’s 60th birthday where I was writing by the beach in a July winter, developing sketches for the artwork while we were in Canberra to have our biometrics and visas done for the move to Sweden, and the ‘when it rains, it really pours’ timing of packing up our lives in Sydney before putting in several hours in the evening to keep working on illustrations the week we moved overseas. Through all the difficulties and overwhelm of 2020, having this project to work on was a wonderful, ever-present reminder of the seasons, cycling through and changing day by day, even when it doesn’t feel like much is happening at the time. I’m so proud of this book, with so much research and writing and refining, and 64 pages of illustrations that are full of delightful details… all of my books have been a labour of love, but Seasons in the City feels like my own personal change of seasons, with lots of new growth and the fruition of what I was ‘sowing’ for the last year.
Available for pre-order now, and arriving in bookstores and bookshelves from September 01.