Ash Mellross
Growing up Ash Mellross was always an incredibly creative person. For Ash, it didn't matter whether he was painting, drawing, snapping photos or filming short movies - as long as he was creating he was happy. As Ash grew older the responsibilities of life took over, leading him to move to Sydney & become an emergency room nurse. However, the creative bug never left Ash & once his daughter came along he discovered the perfect outlet for his creative energy - a children's picture book. So for the past 3 years, Ash has dedicated all of his free time to his debut book, with the aim of having it ready for Christmas 2022.
Chatting to Pario recently Ash spoke about how this journey all came to fruition.
Inspirations behind the book
"When I became a parent I started thinking about the parenting must-do's, like teaching road safety & following safety instructions. From there that's where this little idea for the book started to grow," recalled Ash. "Three years ago I jotted down a few bold headlines about what might be in the story & then it all grew from there."
While Ash was spurred on to create his children's book following the arrival of his daughter, he explained that he was also inspired by the books he was reading to her. In particular, Ash said The Gruffalo & The Grufallo's Child by Julia Donaldson were big inspirations for his writing style.
"I was captivated by those 2 books when I read them to Olivia. They are such lovely books which are so well written & use rhyming couplets to make it really fun for both you as a parent & for your child listening."
Complex creative journey
Prior to setting out on this journey to write a children's book Ash was placing his creative energy into short films for YouTube. Without downplaying the complexities of creating short films Ash now realises it's much more simple to write a book as there's only one person involved.
"When I started the kid's book I hadn't drawn for years, & had never focused on character drawings, so that required a lot of focus. Learning to draw these characters has been the longest part of the process," explained Ash. "Creating this kid's book has been a massive journey. There are 32 pictures in the book & the amount of time it takes to get the watercolour into those was much longer than I anticipated."
Writing a children's book hasn't only been a learning curve from the creative standpoint though. Throughout this process Ash has had to learn all of the ins & outs of business, the processes for publishing a book & finally battling with his own emotions. As Ash said, "To create this book it's just me, some paper, pencils & paints. It's very much a solo journey, which can be a bit lonely at times, but I have enjoyed every moment in the process of making the book."
Writing with his daughter
For Ash, the most exciting part of this entire journey has been sharing it with his daughter. Throughout the entire process Olivia has sat beside Ash drawing her own characters, writing her own little stories & giving Ash the seal of approval on each page as it is completed.
Although, Ash now says his next book might have to be a "rescue mission" after the main character was changed from a little girl named Olivia to a boy named Lee.
In terms of when & where parents can expect to see the completed book Ash says it will be available by print-on-demand. Ash has set himself a deadline of November so that the book is available for Christmas shopping.
Pop, Lee & The Tiny Tree is now available on Amazon
Keep up with Ash on social media at: @AshMellross
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