One for Sorrow, Two for Joy by Clive Woodall

'It is something like nine years trying to get it done, so it is a very important moment and support has been wonderful. The book goes on sale today, and says Clive 'It is a wonderful moment to have the book on the shelves. He writes from his dining room in the village of Bassingbourn, looking out onto his garden which contains about 20 bird feeders. He describes One for Sorrow as a 'classic fairy story for all ages', which is set in Birddom, a place in which a lone robin is given the seemingly impossible task of saving the world from the evil magpies. The cash from Disney is released in stages with the bulk of the money when the film is made, but the advance means Clive has reduced his hours at Sainsbury's in Hitchin in order to devote two days a week to writing the follow up, Seven for a Secret. He pitched it to Disney last year - and you could have knocked me over with a feather when I got that call.' 'I was already riding on a cloud at that stage.

He is mainly seen as a TV producer, but he also was in the right frame of mind to start something else, so he started his own publishing company and mine was the first book. 'Franc and his wife loved it, invited us to London and said they want to do something with it. The 46-year-old wrote One for Sorrow, Two for Joy as a bedtime story for his young sons after his wife left 11 years ago, but it was when his second wife, Trish, passed it to colleagues at Barclays that his luck changed.īank manager Barrie Young passed it to a client, filmmaker Franc Roddam, who loved it so much he bought the rights, published it himself, used his contacts in the film world and clinched the Disney deal.Ĭlive, who lives in Cambridgeshire, said: 'You need that sort of luck in trying to get something published! A supermarket manager has fulfilled the dream of aspiring writers everywhere - not only publishing his first book, but selling it to Disney for one million dollars (£550,000).Ĭlive Woodall's debut novel is published on Monday and is set to become an animated film after the world-famous studios bought the rights.

One for Sorrow, Two for Joy by Clive Woodall