When people learn that I am writing a book for children, their most common response is to ask whether it will be the next Harry Potter. The answer is ‘no’. Wild Rose is a historical novel about a girl who is taken from her father and their secret life in the forest and thrown into the Elizabethan court, where she must learn her true identity before it kills her. Wild Rose features no magical children, though the role of the ravens of the Tower is certainly mysterious.
It would be great to be able to say that ‘yes’, Wild Rose will be as successful another Harry Potter, but that is both unlikely and impossible to predict. It’s hard to imagine another Harry Potter and I think most people I have talked to about it, outside of English teachers and school librarians, would be able to name many other successful children’s books.
On the other hand, there are no such expectations of the baby. When they learn that I’m pregnant, people don’t ask: Will it be the next Winston Churchill? Although the baby is eagerly anticipated, it is free to arrive in its own time and its own unique form. Having said that, the big question of the moment is whether it will be a boy or a girl. Some of David’s family are convinced it’s a girl but we have no inkling either way.
At our twenty week scan on Tuesday we will discover whether it is Small (a boy) or Mini (a girl). It’s very exciting as we’ll both be equally happy with a boy or a girl. But it’s a big step at the same time. It will make the idea of having a real baby of our own much more real than it does at the moment. It will lead to discussions of names and the development of our relationship with our unknown child.
What we can say for certain is that it will not be the next Harry Potter.
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