I WAS READING stories to my son during Covid and given we had lots of time on our hands around then, and our worlds were small for a time, I came up with these stories. It began as a silly bit of fun, but my son loved them, and so I decided to write them down.

In the stories, Johnny Hedgehog, an adventurous nine-year-old boy, was always the lead figure, and over time I began to really like this character I had created. I enjoyed thinking in a much more adventurous way while writing the stories, it was all new to me, and Johnny Hedgehog made me stop and think about the importance of enjoying the here and now. A helpful tool at that time!

During Covid, I felt a lot for my kids, missing out on day-to-day interactions and encounters, such as going to the shop, school, playground or bumping into a neighbour. All the things we had and took for granted as children.

It made me realise how important the surrounding community are in our lives. The person walking the dog who always says hello, the lady in our local post office who asks you about your football match, the man at the till in the local shop who finds a Clubcard to scan for you if you can’t find your one – I genuinely became aware of how important these people and encounters were to me. My stories (possibly subconsciously) incorporated the people we know, the people we meet, the people we bump into and how they shape us, and our........

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