My Inspiration for my first book “Gilly The Grateful Superhero”
I’m about to take it back a little right now to the days of summer 2016. My husband Dave and I had gone on a beautiful trip to Copan, Honduras. Now the only downside of visiting Copan is that it is about five hours drive from the airport. We were super unprepared for this journey and I made sure we wouldn’t be unprepared for the return! The morning we were leaving Copan I downloaded the world-famous book “The Secret” on audible for the drive. I had actually purchased a hard copy version about 6 years previous but gave up on it far too early. In my opinion I wasn’t ready for it then. So off we go into the back of this bumpy cab and start listening to “The Secret.” This drive to the airport ended up being a life altering journey.
 For anyone that has read “The Secret” knows what I’m talking about and for anyone that hasn’t PLEASE DO. I find the audio book excellent but is also available on paperback, eBook and of course the movie (which is currently on Netflix). Long story short this journey was the beginning of my obsession with self-development, my focus on the power of the universe, and of course the incredible power that gratitude has on your life. 
I dove in head first, I read every book I could get my hands on, I listened to every podcast, I did anything I could to become a better version of myself! As I dove in to all of the above I kept hearing the same thing over and over when it came to people discussing the power of gratitude. I was thinking the exact same thing as to I was hearing;
”I just wished I had learned it sooner,”
”These are practices that should be thought to kids at a young age or in school!” “If only I read this book as a child” etc.
 The more I heard this, the more I thought of my own family. I sat there thinking “Wow, I have had this great awakening but man I’m 25, imagine if I knew all this at 15…or 10, or younger?!” At that very moment I decided I wouldn’t let my kids have the same regret so jumped on to trusty amazon and searched for children’s books teaching the power and impact of gratitude. Now, don’t get me wrong there are some options out there but there wasn’t any that I really connected with or thought my energetic kiddies would enjoy or engage enough with. When aimlessly scrolling through amazon I thought well, if I can’t find what I’m looking for, maybe others are thinking the same? 
It was that very day that I said, “maybe I should just write my own?!” Originally the book was to be more of a children’s manual on teaching gratitude, that was until I began to explain my idea to my son James (then only 3). James responded to my plan with this statement, “Ok Mama, so spreading power of gratitude like a thankful Superhero?”
TADAAAA, “Gilly the Grateful Superhero” was born!! 
 I worked on my book daily during my morning routine. Painstakingly rhyming sentences to myself at 5am until I got each one perfect. I’m almost certain the neighbors thought I was losing it. The book had its stops and starts and about 75% to completion I completely went blank. This was around the exact time of my Dad’s massive deterioration after three years of stage four lung cancer. I was and still am based in Honduras, but my family are all in Ireland.
 Around this time, I headed for home to be with my dad in his final months and weeks, I completed the final pages by his side. 
Overall, I wouldn’t consider myself as a highly sentimental person, overly sensitive person, nor a soppy one and I would never say the following if it wasn’t 100% true, but I will say that writing “Gilly the Grateful Superhero” was something that truly got me through my dad’s final days and eventual passing on May 4th, 2018.
 My book was completed on May 1st.
 Why you ask? Well firstly, he LOVED the book, he was always asking about it and wanted to hear my plans and about it so talking about it always gave him a little lift despite whatever pain he was suffering through. I also think the fact that I even attempted to write was a shock to him and an action he wanted to massively support.
 Secondly, if you can imagine me sitting in a hospice beside his bed, he would have had just days left at this point. I have my laptop on my knees and am rewriting the same two lines maybe for the hundredth time about gratitude. I was subconsciously and constantly thinking about ways to be grateful. This then took over every one of my thoughts. I would write, then stop and look at him and instead of thinking “This isn’t fair, he’s only 66, he’s too going to die, etc,” I would look at him and say, “We are the lucky ones, the ones that get to say goodbye.” The ones that get to be by his side when he passes, no regrets, no missed opportunities, and so on. Writing daily about gratitude was programming me to find the blessing in every day, if I wanted to or not, it just happened! This again just confirmed to me even further the overwhelming power of gratitude, its power to heal, and to get you through events you never thought you could. 
We constantly hear miraculous stories of how gratitude has saved lives after life altering events and I wanted to gift this incredible skill to children early so they can use throughout their lives. I also wanted it to be a lesson learnt through fun and vibrancy, the colorful imagery and rhyme holds the attention of even those that struggle to sit through a reading session!
 I have received some amazing feedback on the book and parents telling me they have seen firsthand their kids looking at each part of the day differently and expressing more thanks than ever!
 This was my inspiration for the book and I’m so grateful to see that inspiration come to fruition!