on books. My room was full of them. There were books scattered all over the bed, piled up in the corners, tucked underneath the pillows and stuffed in trunks and bags. People thought I was a messy book nut. I was too busy reading to care.

My father’s prescription for a sore throat or a runny nose was a day home from school and twenty new books. They worked better than lozenges and nose drops and reading about the Kirrin’s well-stocked larder helped work up the missing appetite.

I wrote my first story when I was almost eight years old. It was about a mysterious crate of eggs that takes over the world. It won me the first place in a creative writing competition and a beautiful new dream. I wanted to be an author.

Many books and years later, I was a creative writer in a computer games company and a scriptwriter for children’s shows on TV. Seeing my characters come to life at the click of a mouse or with the flick of a remote control was thrilling but I was missing something. I was longing to make my girlhood dream come true. I needed to write that book.

The idea of Angel and a Half struck me while I was developing a children’s sitcom. I shared it with some of the producers I worked with. They loved the idea and asked me to build it further.

Once I began writing, I knew that this story was far too special to tell on TV. It had universal appeal and would be better told as a book. Loopy words and wordy descriptions would do far more justice to it than any television set could. I wrote down the first few chapters as a test.

People warned me that writing a book would be like motherhood. It would take up all my time and keep me up on my weariest nights. But I couldn’t resist anymore. The story was tempting me like a dimpled-cheek toddler who was squealing to be picked. I took a sabbatical from television. The story had adopted me as its mother.

My paper child turned out to be a playful little brat who loved playing hide and seek. On some days, it hid in places that had wonderful verses and fantastic characters. On others, it camouflaged itself in The Lousy Ideas Creek or The Well of Unnecessary Words.

The story of Angel and a Half is set in the late 1800s. (I didn’t intend that. It happened on its own.) There’s trouble in Paradise and St. Peter is a very worried soul. Things turn worse when the most efficient angel on his team, Aggie, falls in love with and marries Lucy (Luciffera), the Devil’s daughter. Soon, identical twin sons Sam (short for Samaritan) and Dev (Devlin) are born. Sam’s greatest wish is to be a do-gooder just like his father, while his brother Dev wants to be like their old Grandpa. Both the boys are spunky little fellows and their swashbuckling creates a delicious mess. There are some plucky illustrations in the book that pepper the story and make it funnier.

I’ve woven a few essential lessons into the story. Like how a simple good deed can make a series of wonderful things happen to the doer and to those around him, how bad deeds can be turned around with a little bit of courage and imagination, how envy and greed always get their due comeuppance, how sometimes your most dreaded enemy can be your greatest ally and how even your simplest actions can make you an angel or a devil.

It’s unnerving to know that I’m on the same shelf with the authors I’ve always been in awe of. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I know that there’s a heartwarming story between the covers that’s full of chuckles and surprises. Angel and a Half succeeded in charming me into writing it and the publishers into publishing it and I’m quite sure that it will enchant its readers too.

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