It all started with early Christmas decorating at the in-laws and a little hedgehog named Sausage.
The Story Behind the Book
One day in November (we had to celebrate Christmas early for scheduling reasons), we were bringing out the Christmas decorations and setting up for Christmas at my in-laws’ house. At that point, my sister in-law, Pamela, was still keeping her hedgehog, Sausage, in a little travel home tote with a heat lamp overhead in the living room. Sausage had to move to make room for the decorations, and my mother in-law had the idea of Sausage, the hedgehog, trying to help put up all the Christmas decorations.
And thus, the Helpful Hedgehog was born.
From Aspiring Novelist to Children’s Book Author
I couldn’t get the idea out of my head of a cute children’s book where a helpful, little hedgehog tries–and maybe fails a little–to help decorate for Christmas. I had always wanted to be a novelist and had never imagined writing children’s books before, but Sausage, the Helpful Hedgehog had other plans. I could not focus on anything the rest of the day until I had the story written and planned out. Once I sat down to write, it came together in less than an hour, and I could finally breathe again. And the ideas haven’t stopped flowing since.
Of course, it only made sense to publish it as a surprise Christmas gift for the lovely Pamela.
I hope you love this fun and sweet Christmas story as much as I do.