Mum's joy over her first published book

Genna Rowbotham, who lives in Dronfield Woodhouse, was spurred by her four-year-old daughter to pen Holly and The Snow Fairy.

She said: “I have always loved Christmas and I wanted to write my own children’s Christmas book. The inspiration has come from my daughter, Holly, who also loves Christmas. She has her very own holly bush in the garden and is always picking the berries off it.

“Inspiration also came from own childhood memories. I can remember worrying about Father Christmas not being able to come on Christmas Eve if there was no snow on the ground because I thought that Father Christmas’s sleigh wouldn’t be able to take off and fly if there wasn’t any snow.”

She wrote Holly and The Snow Fairy in three hours over a couple of evenings. She said: “The story is about a little girl, called Holly, who loves Christmas. All year long, Holly has been talking to The Snow Fairy that she believes lives inside her holly bush. As Christmas day approaches, she needs to ask The Snow Fairy a big favour.”

Prolific writer Genna, 45, has written five children’s stories since the beginning of the year, three of which are currently in publication.

She said: “For me, writing has been fairly easy because I only sit down and write when the ideas are there. I liken my ideas/inspiration to a seed that grows in the garden into a beautiful flower; you start with just one thought and another thought follows and so on until before you know it, you have a beautiful story. My mum used to always say I had quite an imagination and I guess I still do.

“I love the whole process of thinking up a story from beginning to end. When I have finished a story, I always feel very emotional but in a good way.”

Genna, who has four girls and one boy, two of whom are at university, has been running a secretarial business at home but recently closed it down so that she could spend more time writing and looking after her small children. She said: “My family and friends have all been very supportive, and I thank them all from the bottom of my heart for all the extra books they’ve bought.

“I think there will be quite a few children in Dronfield this year with a Holly and The Snow Fairy book in their Christmas stocking.”

Her illustrated book costs £4.99 and is published by Pegasus, ISBN 13: 9781912021567.