A 66-year-old man who has incurable cancer has wrote a children’s book with all proceeds going to charity.
Chris Blackmore, from Bovingdon, is now retired but worked as a vet in at the Park Veterinary Centre, Watford for 40 years and has been living with a multiple myeloma since 2017.
Chris was inspired to write his book, Strange Antics when he was going through treatment.
Speaking to WatfordNews, he said: “I was inspired during my cancer therapy, I needed to keep busy and thought it would be great to write a children’s book which kids could learn from.”
Strange Antics is a fun educational book written to help older children (aged seven to 12) learn new advanced words and also some facts about ants while they’re at it.
It is a story about a colony of ants who support the queen and her brood while a rabble of miscreants try to shake it up.
Chris opened up about how working on the book has helped him keep going through since his diagnosis.
He said: “It has helped me and has kept me going. It can quite easily get the best of you but I took the approach that I can deal with it. Yes it’s been very difficult but I have just kept positive.
“I turned from an optimist when I was diagnosed to a realist. I wrote the book to keep me occupied and to put my energy into something positive. All of the proceeds will be going to a charity linked with the NHS because they have helped me so much during my illness
“I want to help fund a new Phlebotomy chair at Hemel Hempstead Hospital.”
Two very special characters feature in the book who revolve around his granddaughters Edie and Bea.
Chris created Speedy Edie Ant and Bea (Big Eyed Ant) because he wanted the book to be a legacy for his granddaughters to remember him by.
Alongside Chris, Chipperfield boy Todd Moxey created the “fantastic” illustrations for the book and helped Chris through the whole process.
Todd described him as a “perfect author” who has been “great fun to work with”.
The book is planned to be published in September this year.
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