What inspired Tidy Up Thomas?
I'm the first to admit that Tidy Up Thomas is a little dark, (depending, of course, on your interpretation of the events chronicled within...) but the idea for the story came from two very benign sources.
The book tells the tale of young Thomas Pinkerton - a chap who is seemingly incapable of tidying up after himself. He takes it for granted that his governess, Mrs Morton, will clean up his mess. And she does. Up to a point. What unfolds from there on in is open to interpretation. Is Mrs Morton really exacting her revenge for being under appreciated, or is she performing a kindness in reuniting Thomas with what he had lost? Or maybe it was all just a fantastical day dream on her behalf!
But what put the idea in my head originally?
Two incidences planted the seed for the story- firstly one of my lovely work mates (at the haunted house... I will definitely tell you more about that very soon!) was exasperated that her young son seemed incapable of as simple a task as putting his breakfast dishes in the sink for washing. Along with, I'm sure, millions of parents, she was fed up of feeling a little bit taken for granted (I hasten to add, she expressed no desire to take any drastic action about the situation!)
Secondly, about the same time, my mum and I were chatting about what story I might work on next. She obviously felt I needed inspiration and suggested "what about one about the sheets in the cupboard being ghosts?" Now, the story she would have developed from her idea would have been very different to what I came up with, but it started me thinking. Would the sheets actually be ghosts? Or might a sheet falling from the top shelf coincidentally land over a ghost, who may actually always be around but not visible? Who might that ghost be? Maybe the sheet was the ghost and someone had 'tidied' it away to keep it out of mischief. What might that story look like?
So, as is my want, I began drawing (I rarely have a fully fleshed out story line established before I start the illustrations- the drawings lead the way and point my brain in the right direction).
I knew I wanted it to be a bit of a dark tale and I wanted it to look a bit 'vintage spooky'. I love the black and white ink drawings of Edward Gorey (we'll definitely be looking at his work more in future blogs!) and decided on a kind of minimalist look for most of the art (nothing to do with me not liking illustrating backgrounds as much as I like creating characters!).
Thomas was the first to appear on the page. He seemed to be wearing rather smart, early 20th Century clothes which worked with my desire for 'vintage'.
Mrs Morton was a bit of an enigma. Good or bad? Human or ethereal? I wanted her to be all angles and tall and prim. But not cut and dried one way or the other. Severe but not overtly unkind.
And I took it from there.
So, is Tidy Up Thomas a ghost story? Most definitely. But how many ghosts are in it? You get to decide that. Oh, and the lack of comma in the title is entirely intentional😏
Until next time!