If I thought my life was busy before, it became a speeding roller-coaster ride from 2002 to 2007, when Michael died, and I was widowed for a SECOND time.  The first time was in 1989 when I was 24.  My first husband, Christian, was a Search and Rescue pilot in the Royal Navy in Lee-on-Solent, and then Weymouth.  He died in front of me doing a bridge jump whilst we were on holiday in Spain.  (He refused my offer of going first!  One of my first thoughts when it happened was, ‘Bang goes my five children...’)

        However, throughout the five years of Michael’s cancer before he died, The Naturals never left my mind.  I was not annoyed they were there.  I accepted that I physically did not have the time to let them out and they patiently bubbled away inside my head, trusting that I would unleash them just as soon as I was able.  Whenever I was alone, either in the bathroom or hanging out the washing, the remaining seven stories would come tumbling to the forefront of my mind, with ideas, sentences and words for me to remember.  I knew I would not forget one tiny detail, which were embedded lastingly in my memory.  I also felt very strongly that my stories were important for me to somehow get out into the world and into the hearts of children.

       In October 2004 Michael went away to a rehabilitation centre for three weeks.  I seized my opportunity to get the remaining 14,306 words that were tumbling around inside my head down on paper, to complete The Naturals.  This was my only foreseeable chance!  In the lounge I put Michael’s electric hospital bed into a comfortable writing position and plonked myself on it all day, every day for three weeks.  When the children came home from school and kindergarten each day, I would read what I had written and they would give their input.  We ate breakfast cereal for dinner every night for three weeks...but I finished my stories!
 I was so proud of my achievement, but knew I still needed time to read and perfect them all before finding a publisher; time which did not come until 2007, when we moved back to the UK, and when Michael died.

       I am investing a chunk of Michael's life insurance money in self-publishing The Naturals, in the hope that parents and grandparents will want my stories, and the values they portray to touch the hearts and minds of the children in their lives.

Copyright © 2010 The Naturals

Created and Maintained by Lukas Petersen