Autumn Dreams and Colouring Book Released.

Mock up of how the colouring book looks

Autumn is in the air, the rain has started to turn cold, and the season of beautiful golden hours is upon us. Mornings after dog walks and late evenings are now filled with curling up under a heated blanket with a hot cup of tea. In my corner of the world in Sheffield, the air outside has turned completely crisp, and the trees are finally dropping all of their copper and gold leaves onto the pavement. It is the exact kind of autumn day that makes you want to pull on your most comfortable, oversized jumpers or fluffy pyjamas, and just watch the world outside from the warmth and comfort of a self-made nest.

If I’m being completely honest, my mood has recently been darker than the evenings that are quickly drawing in. After facing a heavy, stressful chapter in my life which required me to completely step away, step back, and protect my health, navigating recovery has meant taking a long, gentle break from the noise. During this time, I chose to focus quietly on my current client lines, rest my hands, and take the space needed to find my way back to the hustle and bustle of social media.

These days, a slow-paced lifestyle like this carries its own strange kind of everyday magic. On the eve of my birthday, my debut self-authored colouring book has quietly gone live on the global shelves.

When you look at the photographs below, you’ll see two very different versions of me. There is the modern version, a Master of Illustration graduate. But underneath that is a faded photograph from the 1980s - contrast, one a child who dream big and the other the adult who listened to her in the end.

Me in the 1980s a girl who created her own world

Growing up deaf in an era before television closed captions or accessible digital spaces, the screen was a silent, everlasting barrier. The only true stories I could fully access back then came from my own head. To escape the heavy boredom of isolation, I would sit on that carpet for hours, open a colouring book, and use the lines to create Emma’s World—a place of innocent wonder that felt a million miles away from reality. I didn't just read the illustrations; I lived inside them, physically acting out the subplots to make the silence of human connection disappear.

That childhood survival mechanism is the exact foundation of what this new colouring book means to me. It isn’t just a collection of lines to fill in; it is an invitation. It is a gentle space built to help children, deaf or hearing, step away from the loud noise of the modern digital screen, pick up a pencil, and build their own worlds of innocent wonder. It gives them full permission to turn the printed page into their own physical stage to make their own magic happen.

I’ve just ordered my first two physical author copies to feel the premium paper textures, and I

cannot wait for them to land on my doorstep.

Looking forward, I have a lot of personal project plans in motion. I have a finished manuscript for a picture book, and I am currently illustrating with the hope of pitching to literary agents soon. I will also be returning to social platforms with a more interactive presence, launching a new short-form video series called Stars in a Jar prompts.

For now, my only project for the afternoon is heading out to buy a very large (and tasty) Marks & Spencer cake to celebrate with my family on my birthday.

Sometimes a knock-back in life means you come back stronger, a little braver, and never giving up. Thank you to every single person who has held me up, believed in my lines, and helped make my own imagination and dreams come true. Can buy the colouring book on Amazon direct through KDP