The last publication was the continuation of my beautifully illustrated first children’s book «Leonard and Loulou», which is called «Leonard and Lea». Thanks so much, Teodora Puncheva, for your outstanding illustrations.

The newest publication is up on Amazon since today: «Loulou & Loupi» – a photo book with over 30 touching pictures about the real Loulou and her four kittens, among them the whitest one with his black tale called Loupi.

As a passionate photographer, I followed our cat family with my camera. I took pictures of them as blind newborns, cuddling one with the other, when Mama Loulou went for a short walk. I shot pictures, when they opened their eyes for the first time. I got them with my camera joking around, playing with each other’s tails or drinking with fervor and pushing each other as much as possible to get the most of milk.

I already printed this book one year ago, just one copy, and I took it with me, when I was doing a reading for girls and boys and I showed it to them after they have listened to my story of Leonard and Loulou.

As these schoolgirls and boys were also so fond of this photo book, I decided yesterday to publish it as an eBook on Amazon.

Now, you can discover Loulou’s kittens and certainly the most precious one, Loupi. You have to get to know his story. I say “his”, because all four kittens are male.

Loupi seemed very special since the very beginning. He didn’t push to get his part of milk like the others did. He always got overrun by his siblings. They climbed on his body or pushed him away. We often found three kittens drinking, while Loupi was laying aside and having nothing. He didn’t grow as quickly and strongly as the others, of course. When he tried to walk, we observed him falling down very often. We wondered whether it exists also some kind of disabled cats, because he seemed to be one of them.

Together with my boys, I decided that we would keep him, although mother cats don’t like too much to live with their children, once they are grown-ups.

Today, we are so grateful that we got Loupi, because he is the most sensitive cat in our whole cat family. One can take him onto his arms, and he doesn’t move at all. He just enjoys being cuddled for a very long time. He often jumps on our lap, when we are sitting on the sofa, and he starts licking our hands or arms, as if he wished getting milk out of it.

He is the one, who is looking for close human company the most among our three other cats. Besides, one of his brothers, Blacky, the one with the biggest black spots, is the total opposite of Loupi: his body mass index is the double of Loupi’s and regarding his character, we would describe him as rather aggressive. Blacky is the one, who decided to live with our neighbors. He still passes from time to time and says hello to sweet Loupi, laying under my office table and feeling a bit disturbed by his strong and impulsive brother.

In fact, all these cat stories and books wouldn’t exist, if we didn’t decide a few years ago to try to have kittens. That’s why Loulou joined us as a three months old kitten, and Leonard, the younger son, took care of his baby. With how much tenderness and love, he did it! You can read it here. He even didn’t have time to do his homework because of Loulou – read it in another blog post story.

Without Leonard and Loulou, there wouldn’t be my first two children book’s and this new one, “Loulou & Loupi”.

Enjoy the touching pictures! I always do, even after the 115^th times, I look at them. These cats are just heart-melting.

“Loulou & Loupi”, 60 pages, 30 full-page colored pictures, ca. EURO 3.20, eBook on Amazon

PS. If you like to get my 3 Secrets To A Writing Mindset, download it for free from here:

The post Books, books and more books first appeared on Swiss Made Story.

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I can hardly believe it, but it’s real: my second children’s book is printed and waits to be shipped to Switzerland.

“Leonard and Lea” is the continuation of “Leonard and Loulou”, but you might read it first and you won’t miss anything of the whole story. In this book, Leonard doesn’t only have a cat as his friend, but also his new classmate Lea, who is laughed at by the others in school, exactly the same way as they do it with Leonard.

He experiences for the first time how it is to have a friend, who feels the same way as he does.

How did I write this story? Leonard, in real life my younger son, soon 14 years old and me, developed the storyline. It has been a year ago. We drove a few hours to a place in Germany, where I did a reading of the first book.

We started with the question, what would Leonard like to have as a new friend. We designed Lea: with red hair and a pink school bag. We invented her story, why she joined Leonard’s class in the middle of the school year. We asked ourselves how the two of them got to know each other better and how it came that they even met after school.

The plot got developed, step by step. Leonard helped me to create a natural story, and sometimes, he would tell me, that his classmates would not behave this way, and we shaped the continuation differently.

It has been so inspiring to work with my son on the story. When we got home from Germany, I started writing chapter after chapter. In between, I read the text to him. Most of the time, Leonard was excited about it. Sometimes, I needed to discuss again a situation with him, when I wasn’t sure whether it would make sense what I had in mind.

The story got quite a bit longer than the first one. But it was done rather quickly. The first reader was excited, too, as well as Teodora Puncheva, the art professor and illustrator of “Leonard and Loulou”. Her contribution with these wonderfully detailed and colorful illustrations seems even more dense to me, as if she got more familiar with the characters of human beings and the animals.

I’d love to create a trilogy and continue in a third book with Leonard’s story. There would be so many other episodes to talk about. Bullying at school is such a big theme nowadays, and the topic of feeling oneself not good enough is such a huge topic, even adults are suffering from it – including me.

If you like to discover the whole story of “Leonard and Lea” in German and English, order it here. There is even a special, numbered edition, which will be personally signed and dedicated to the one you choose.

Enjoy the story and the very beautiful illustrations!

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What are the most touching moments during the readings of children’s books?

My very special moments are when small girls and boys start telling things like about a cat, who came to their house, who did this and that and how that felt or like today, how a small boy told a long, long story with plenty of unimportant details about moving and so on in order to reveal at the end how it was that the cat purred.

It is amazing to realize that my story about the boy Leonard and the cat named Loulou resonates with children.

But not only with children… Another touching moment was when an adult told me at my very first reading that my story reminded her so much of her beloved dog from childhood that she was moved to tears. Or one colleague bought my story because when he was a kid, his cat always walked him to school as Loulou does with Leonard in my story.

Today, at my first reading close to my Swiss hometown Winterthur, I didn’t expect a big audience. Fifteen minutes before the start, half of the restaurant was full of joyful, small and big children and even elderly people, and at the start, all 30 chairs were taken.

What a moment to stand in front of this big audience and to see all these open eyes and minds to listen to me!

I’ve been reading stories to children since many years. My two boys, now 13 and 15 and in puberty, listened to me every night. We read together so many books, we read all books written by Astrid Lindgren. We travelled with Jim Knopf and Lukas, the train conductor. We suffered with the figures of Brother Grimm, and when we didn’t have a book at our hands, I started inventing stories about an elephant who was too big because he loved eating, and how many times, my boys told me to continue the story about Frederic, the elephant.

Reading to a big audience like today is completely different. It is strange because I am not that close to the children and I cannot feel exactly how they perceive the story. That’s why I love to ask questions in between in order be able to hear what they have understood and what they have been thinking of it.

One thing I was reassured of today: Animals like cats and dogs have such a big impact on people’s lives.

It gives so much color to my life with my two sons. Besides, our cat story only started five years ago with two cats. Then, Loulou joined us, gave birth to four babies. We kept two of them. Meanwhile, we only have three cats because one of the babies decided to stay at the neighbor’s house. I could tell so many stories about our cats, how they disappeared, how we found them again, how many dead mice, but even more living mice had visited us, and how many of them, I had to catch. Funny moments, I can tell!

The sequel to the first book won’t talk about mice but will be the story about «Leonard and Lea», and there will be a dog playing a big role together with the cat Loulou. The story is already complete in my mind, and more than three-quarter of it written down. As soon as I have some quiet moments without running after mice, I will get it finished.

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Publishing a book is like being pregnant and giving birth to a child. “Leonard and Loulou”, my first children’s book, is like a child who is taking me on a journey I never thought it would exist.

I had sent the German manuscript to several publishing houses in Switzerland, and guess, nobody wanted to take it. I was sad at the time I got these answers. Today, I am happy that it worked out for me like that.

End of October 2017, I decided to put the book on the Swiss crowd founding platform called wemakeit to raise some money to print the book in Switzerland. And I was so excited to see how the money came in because 34 of my dear friends decided to support me. Thanks so much again.

“3000 Swiss Francs should do it to print some hundred of copies of my book”, I thought. To find a printing office took me a long time. I asked at least 10 printing offices to get an offer. I always wanted to have a nice hard cover with a solid binding because the book should be resistant to a lot of hands to be touched by and to get handed over to the next generation.  How I love my children’s books, which I looked at as a child and I could look at again with my two boys now!

As a multicultural being, having studied French, English and German, I wanted to start with the book in three languages. Again, my friends are so wonderful. They translated the story into English (Marlyse Treichler) and French (Jacques Roch, the father of my two boys), and another friend (Cornelia Schmidt), who has her own translation office (I can give you her address because she’s got no website), lectured it. Thanks a lot to you all!

The very beautiful layout was made up by my neighbor, Adrian Ochsner and Printed Matter. Thanks, Adrian!  You may ask him for editing your book.  But at the moment, he loves doing some big construction works, he is driving construction machines and will be having time for graphic design again in about one year. That’s what he told me when he was devotedly repairing his newly-bought old tractor the other day.

Last but not least, also many thanks to my friend Kiril Charov (Swiss-Bulgarian doctor and artist) who found the great Bulgarian illustrator Teodora Dimitrova. She invented the main characters, my boy Léonard and our cat Loulou according to the pictures she got from us. Thanks to her, the book has been published. Before, Kiril had found another illustrator who didn’t fit at all to the story, and I nearly stopped my project to publish the story because I couldn’t imagine the book with other illustrations than they are now.

And the picture shows the wonderful action launched by my friend Dave Hertig (the big Swiss expert for Content Marketing Services) when he interviewed me in Zurich at his event, and half of the participants wanted to have my book.

You can order “Leonard and Loulou” as a hard copy by sending me an e-mail or you can buy it as an eBook at Amazon or iBooks. My latest and craziest idea is to bring the book into the Chinese market. Chinese people are very fond of Heidi and a lot of Swiss products. And I already see “Leonard and Loulou” in front of my inner eyes in Chinese. I let you know when this idea will be starting to fly.

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The post Conversation between brothers: Scene 24 first appeared on Swiss Made Story.

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Conversation between brothers: Scene 23

16.15 am after school

Little boy:    “Did you listen to what mom said?”
Big boy:        “No… why?”
Little boy:    “Don’t disturb me…”
Big boy:        “Oh… poor you… you’re feeling disturbed…”
Little boy:    “Yes… I said stop…”
Big boy:        “Oh… yes, I heard that. What’s your problem?”
Little boy:    “I have to do my homework now.”
Big boy:        “Go on…”
Little boy:    “But you’re disturbing me.”
Big boy:        “Oh… my little brother…”
Little boy:    “Leave me now…”
Big boy:        “Well… I see you want to do your homework.”
Little boy:    “Yes.”
Big boy:        “You’re such a eager beaver.”
Little boy:    “Stop insulting me…”
Big boy:        “Oh. You’re feeling insulted. Poor you.”
Little boy:    “Yes. Go away…!”
Big boy:        “Oh. You’re such an excellent scholar.”
Little boy:    “Stopppppp. ”
Big boy:        “Okay… you’re such an intelligent boy…!”
Little boy:    “Stopppppp.”
Big boy:        “You know. I’m cheesed off with school.”
Little boy:    “No wonder… with your intelligence!”
Big boy:        “Hey. Now, you’re insulting me. Stop.”
Little boy:    “Ha, ha, ha… you see how it feels!”
Big boy:        “I didn’t insult you as much as you did.”
Little boy:    “That’s what you think…”
Big boy:        “Yes…! But it’s true…!”
Little boy:    “No…!”
Big boy:        “Yes…! It’s true…!”
Little boy:    “No…!”
Big boy:        “Yes…!
Little boy:    “Stop!”
Big boy:        “You started!”
Little boy:    “No. You did.”
Big boy:        “Oh. What a liar.”
Little boy:    “Come on.”
Big boy:        “Mom. He’s so mean.”

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The post Conversation between brothers: Scene 23 appeared first on Swiss Made Story.

4.10 p.m. on a holiday afternoon

Big boy:        “Who is your girl-friend?”

Little boy:    “I don’t have any girl-friend.”

Big boy:        “What? Are you sure?”

Little boy:    “Sure enough.”

Big boy:        “But who’s writing you messages?”

Little boy:    “You’re so curious.”

Big boy:        “Tell me!”

Little boy:    “How about your girl-friend?”

Big boy:        “Girl-friend?”

Little boy:    “Yes. Come on!”

Big boy:        “I don’t have. Girls are all b…!”

Little boy:    “I don’t believe you.”

Big boy:        “You know my school mates.”

Little boy:    “What’s wrong with them?”

Big boy:        “They behave in such a daffy way.”

Little boy:    “I know…”

Big boy:        “I cannot stand it.”

Little boy:    “I’m glad. The girls of my class are different.”

Big boy:        “Wait… they’ll soon be the same way.”

Little boy:    “O my god!”

Big boy:        “And they always stick together…”

Little boy:    “Yes… I saw them during the break.”

Big boy:        “I cannot talk to them any more.”

Little boy:    “Fortunately, we’re boys…”

Big boy:        “Oh… yes!”

The post Conversation between brothers: Scene 22 first appeared on Swiss Made Story.

The post Conversation between brothers: Scene 22 appeared first on Swiss Made Story.

Christmas present for mom

I don’t feel old, but this memory dates from 43 years ago. A long time.

I could hardly wait until my mom opened my Christmas present. I was so proud of it. The thing I made at school. I had been working on it for hours.

When I brought it home after the last school day, I had to hide it until the Christmas Eve. A very long time.
And I hear my mom under the Christmas tree: “Oh, this is wonderful. You made this?” I was so happy for hours.

When little boy came home two days ago, we couldn’t eat until he had wrapped his thing from school and he could hand it out to me.

I unwrapped it very, very slowly looking many times into little boys’ eyes gathering his pride and happiness.

This moment will stay in my memory, too. Forever.

I’m so happy.
 
 

The post Christmas present for mom first appeared on Swiss Made Story.

The post Christmas present for mom appeared first on Swiss Made Story.

Conversation between brothers: Scene 21

12.10 a.m. after school

Big boy:        “Did you bring home my things from school?”
Little boy:    “No!”
Big boy:        “What? You didn’t?”
Little boy:    “Yes. Why should I?”
Big boy:        “But we agreed you take my homework.”
Little boy:    “Yes, but you also left your sports cloths with your whole bag.”
Big boy:        “So, what did you bring home?”
Little boy:    “Just your folder with your homework.”
Big boy:        “Come on. This isn’t true.”
Little boy:    “Sure. It is.”
Big boy:        “You won’t allow you to play your game on my computer.”
Little boy:    “But, we agreed this morning.”
Big boy:        “But, you didn’t bring home my things.”
Little boy:    “Sure, just one folder. Nothing else.”
Big boy:        “So, you’ll get it at school for me.”
Little boy:    “No. I won’t. What do you think?”
Big boy:        “You have to… !”
Little boy:    “Not in my dreams…!”
Big boy:        “You won’t get my computer.”
Little boy:    “You promised me.”
Big boy:        “It’s your fault.”
Little boy:    “You’re so mean.”
Big boy:        “You are mean…!”
Little boy:    “No… you!”
Big boy:        “No… you!”
Mom:             “What’s going on?”

The post Conversation between brothers: Scene 21 first appeared on Swiss Made Story.

The post Conversation between brothers: Scene 21 appeared first on Swiss Made Story.

Conversation between brothers: Scene 20

12.15 a.m. after school

Little boy:    “I didn’t take your stuff.”
Big boy:        “What?”
Little boy:    “You put your school folder under my jacket.”
Big boy:        “I didn’t want to take it with me.”
Little boy:    “I saw it. But I left it at school.”
Big boy:        “There is my homework in it.”
Little boy:    “I don’t want to be your servant.”
Big boy:        “Don’t you understand?”
Little boy:    “What?”
Big boy:        “I had to go to town.”
Little boy:    “So what? This isn’t my problem.”
Big boy:        “Don’t you understand?”
Little boy:    “You could ask me first.”
Big boy:        “I didn’t think of it. I forgot.”
Little boy:    “It’s already the second time.”
Big boy:        “I was in a hurry.”
Little boy:    “I don’t care.”
Big boy:        “I can’t do my homework.”
Little boy:    “So what?”
Big boy:        “Mom, he’s so mean.”

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