Twenty-year-old Kilbirnie video-blogger and aspiring
film-maker Petra Kotrotsos always dreamed she’d publish a book one day, as long
as she could fight the cancer she was diagnosed with at the age of six.
At that age, all Petra wanted to be was a fairy princess.
The following year she sat down with a family friend and wrote the story about
how she’d had to leave princess dreams behind and turn into a warrior fairy to
fight the cancer called neuroblastoma.
She fought it successfully that time, but it returned four
more times before she turned 15. At 19 Petra attended a writing workshop
organised by cancer specialist nurse Liz Sommer and Wellington publisher Mary
McCallum of Mākaro Press. At the end of the session, Petra read out her
childhood story and when she finished everyone clapped, and then Mary asked her
if she’d ever imagined it as a picture book.
‘I couldn’t believe it,’ said Petra. ‘My creative projects –
writing, video-blogging and film-making – have given me strength when
times are tough, and I’d always planned to publish my writing, now here was the
opportunity right in front of me!’
Petra saw the book as a way of helping children with cancer
not to feel so scared or so alone, and to give medical professionals a better
understanding of what it is their young patients face.
Mary found a young artist called Christina Irini Arathimos
who had never illustrated a book before, and who – like Petra – is a Wellington
woman of Greek descent. Her artwork was exactly as Petra had described the
perfect illustrations: ethereal but strong, with a timeless quality. Mary
organised a mentor for Christina Irini in award-winning illustrator Fifi
Colston, and so work on the book began, with author and illustrator
collaborating closely.
‘Petra’s and Christina Irini’s beautiful book tells the
story of a courageous young woman,’ says the Mākaro publisher. ‘It combines
childhood dreams with medical fact and more than a touch of magic, the perfect
way to help children with cancer and their families deal with the fight ahead
of them. But we also hope it will help children without cancer to develop
empathy for friends and classmates facing a cancer diagnosis.’
I’d Rather Be a Fairy Princess launches on Sunday, 2 July,
2017, at the Greek Community Hall with 200 people expected. Local printer
Wakefields Digital printed the book and the Wellington Hospitals Foundation
paid for the first print run.
‘It’s my big fat Greek book launch,’ says Petra. Sadly
Christina Irini is overseas and can’t be there but her family will – with bells
on.
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