A star in the making, Trevor creates all his own illustrations for this deliciously gory children’s book, some of which have been upgraded by an artist. If you like ‘icky’ then you’ll love this!
Abruptly awoken from our slumber, we are surrounded by the stinking stench of bile and sticky brown fluid oozing from the fleshy pink walls covered in a thick, yellow jelly-like substance. We are aboard some sort of living spaceship.
Gruesomely greeted by the hideously humongous Revolta Gressla, Queen of Gresslon, with her three evil eyes, seventeen conniving ears and three disgusting mouths – with a crown of dragons’ teeth perched upon her repugnant head; we are a million miles away from the safety of Planet Earth.
No we haven’t gone raving mad. We are engrossed in the tale of Lily Lovebug and the Unconquered Planet. A tale of growth. A tale of belief. And most of all, a tale of triumph.
Dreamed up by local senior nurse-turned-author Trevor Ripley, this exciting and educational children’s book is a gore-fest full of rotting zombies, puss and other icky things that kids love the most.
Telling the story of Lily Loveland, a ten-year-old rebellious loner who, throughout her adventure, transforms into a powerful young woman; the story takes many twists and turns along the journey across six universes.
With a sprinkle of history and education and a dash of humour and whit, Trevor has created a truly fascinating and engaging read to inspire children of both genders and most ages to treasure and enjoy.
“When you write a book you think is it good enough, you start doubting yourself.
“But it’s just a really nice story. I quite surprised myself when I finished it,” he tells us.
Trevor’s love of story making began many moons ago when his two daughters Kazia and Aniela craved the bedtime stories made-up on the spot by their father.
Encouraging his daughters to act out fairytales or well loved stories, or making up stories about the girls’ cuddly toys jumping out of the window and going on night-time adventures to return before the girls awoke in the morning gave his children a night filled of wacky dreams while they snoozed.
“I could never get them to sleep,” he jokes.
But his bedtime buccaneering blossomed into a hobby that would soon give Trevor the inspiration to create a whole world of fictional fantasies.
While completing his nurse training, Trevor began to read a lot, which in turn began a love affair with writing. No formal plans were made, but ideas flowed from mind to hand; taking down the adventure running through his brain.
Lily’s tale took just three months to complete, with Trevor eager to get back to writing the next chapter. But Trevor tells us the writing wasn’t the hard part.
With his story picked up very quickly by Edinburgh-based publishers Crooked Cat, Trevor is now on the long, hard slog that is the promotion trail.
“Promotion is the hardest bit. People think that once you get a book published that’s it. But you’re only on the first rung of the ladder,” he says.
Although the throws of fictional success have only just begun, Trevor is already reaping the rewards of being an author.
“The best thing for me is speaking to people, chatting about books and such. When someone tells me ‘Oh my son or daughter read your book in one night.’ Or ‘my son is autistic and has never really sat down and read, but he loved your book so much.’ That’s what matters to me,” he says.
In May, Trevor attended the People’s Book Prize final after being nominated for the Children’s category by his publishers. A feat in itself a newly-established author getting through to the finals, Trevor tells us it was a great experience to be up against some very strong competition.
Aside from his writing talent, Trevor’s full-time career is in clinical governance at Rotherham General Hospital, having worked for the Rotherham Trust for over 12 years.
Having spent years watching National Geographic and always having had a weird fascination with operations and wounds that would make most of us weak at the knees; Trevor has used his science knowledge to incorporate some clever facts into his tale.
And with another three books of different genres in the pipeline at various levels of production, a Masters dissertation to complete and a family to spend time with; Trevor has got a busy time ahead of him.
Lily Lovebug and the Unconquered Planet is available to buy from Patchwork Pig and Hamby’s in Rotherham Town Centre, Broom Post Office and is also available online
Why not visit Trevor on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/trevor.ripley.33
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