... a children's writer for APPS
a day in the life of
Dustin Brooks, a children’s writer and publisher, lives and works in East Sheen and creates children’s stories as apps
‘I
get up early each morning and four mes a week I go for a run in Richmond Park. In my opinion there’s no more beau ful place on earth. 'My wife, Dominika, is a busy personal trainer, so o en the school run is le to me. This gives me me for some serious Lego talk with my 7-year-old son, William. 'My office is only a hundred metres from my home. It’s a vast penthouse overlooking the river. Well, it isn’t really, but le ng my imagina on get away from me is crucial to my job. 'Last spring I got together with another Sheen dad, Neil Jeffries, and formed a company to create children’s books as apps. I love apps and technology and think this is another way that children can enjoy stories. 'My day begins replying to emails or having a skype conference call. Our main app developer is in Naples, Italy, and we’re making books for clients in America and in Spain, so Skype is big in our world. 'Technology is advancing so quickly we feel like pioneers in this field. Stories
can be hugely influen al for children and we want to help them enjoy them in this format, with each one having an educa onal and 'Letting my posi ve message. 'What’s exci ng is imagination that we can create apps get away for new writers who from me is want to by-pass the crucial to my tradi onal publishing job...' route as well as publishing houses. 'Crea ng an app involves a lot of people, so we deal with authors, illustrators, animators, so ware developers, SFX labs and musicians, too. 'Our most successful app to date is Feed ‘Em Fred (The Chef of Dread) - an interac ve kids book app for the ipad. Inspired by my son’s Coco Pops addic on, it tells of a boy who learns to like his mum’s healthy food a er enduring a diet of Feed-‘Em Fred’s cockroach cuisine! My son, William, loves it, par cularly as it was inspired by him, but he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life being associated with a fussy eater! 'My day usually ends with a trip to Waitrose, with a bag of organic veg and recently deceased fish. Then it’s home to my wife, son and hamster to enjoy a meal, bath and, of course, a cracking bed me story.'
Please mention Living In Richmond & Kew magazine when contacting advertisers
LIVINGIN 39 magazines