As a writer I am inspired by a lot of things; beautiful scenery, images of nature, (especially forests and trees) song lyrics, interesting or unusual words and other stories, in particular those of fantasy and fairy tales origins. Growing up, one of my favourite books was The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton, not just for the awesome adventures the children in the story had, but for the magic of the tree and its fascinating inhabitants. The concept of an enchanted forest always sat within my imagination waiting for an opportunity to come to life.
2020 was a tough year for so many people, in so many ways. Not only because of Covid, but for all that came with it; lockdowns, business closures, home-schooling, social distancing. For myself, I was also undergoing treatment for breast cancer, as well as homeschooling two of my four children. Thank goodness I had lots of support from family. But it was hard to write and stay focused on the project I was working on (coming out later this year!). I thought about writing a story for my nieces as part of their Christmas present, something classic and straightforward. And so The Lost Unicorn was born.
I was always going to base the main characters on my nieces, add in an enchanted forest, a unicorn fawn who needed rescuing, plus a few bad guys, and the story basically wrote itself! It also provided a happy distraction during chemo sessions. When I asked my sister-in-law who is an artist to come on board for some illustrations, the project felt complete. It also gave me a good excuse to practice using the self-publishing platforms I had always been interested in.
Molly (talented artist) and I have discussed a few options for a sequel, perhaps even a series of stories which will take place within the enchanted Maywood forest. Now, if I can just get my kids back to school and kinder I might have some time to write those stories!
If you would like to purchase your own copy of The Lost Unicorn the paperback version is available on most online platforms (Booktopia, Angus and Robertson, Amazon etc). If you would prefer the beautiful hardcover version (our favourite) please send me an email for price and postage details at danielle@fourmoonspublishing.com.
Love and Light xo
Danielle Hughes 