At my daughter’s request, I’ve just uploaded a new sleep story about a red panda called Harry.

There were a few elements she told me had to be included in this story:

1. It had to be about a red panda called Harry.
2. He had to meet penguins.
3. He had to go to Antarctica to meet the penguins.

But when I started writing the story, it didn’t turn out like that at all.

Naturally, my daughter wasn’t pleased. But I tried to explain that sometimes when you write, the characters just take over and lead you down a different path. I got some weird looks but I tried to reassure her that the story still involved a panda and a penguin.

“But what about Antarctica?” she asked, still clearly not happy with me.

I tried to explain that I couldn’t figure out how to get the panda to Antarctica. It’s not like he could just jump on a plane and fly there – surely people would notice that, right?

I soon learned that apparently, he was supposed to fly his own plane there. Right. My mistake.

So, I had to apologise and beg for her forgiveness.

And then I had to promise that the sequel will be more on-brief.

Stay tuned…