Taming the Scratchy Monster Book

After a long wait, our lovely book, Taming the Scratchy Monster, has finally hit the printing press and is available to order from the Itsan website!

I wrote the book when I was going through a really tough time with my steroid withdrawal. My skin was oozy, tight, dry and uncomfortable. I knew that there were many people going through the same thing, including children, and I just wanted to do something.

Writing has been a great therapy for me during TSW. It has given me power over the illness. Writing about it has given me back some kind of control when it felt like my skin was completely out of control.

The first draught of the story was very long! I had the idea of writing about a boy who kept feeding a monster who kept growing and wouldn't leave him alone. The only way for him to be free was to stop feeding the monster and cross many perils, such as a dry desert, red river, oozy swamp and hot volcano. Each stage in the journey represents the harsh symptoms of TSW.

I sent the book to some Itsan members with kids, who gave me lots of advice about tweaking the story and making it into a picture book format. One particular Itsan member, Kristina, liked the story so much that she found a great illustrator to do the artwork to go with the words. The result is fantastic and Gloria's beautiful artwork compliments my words perfectly.

"Scratchy" was created by a young girl going through TSW. He is such a great character and was a lot of fun to write about. He perfectly epitomises what TSW is all about, as he is covered with itchy prickles and won't leave you alone. Little Keira, his creator, managed to heal completely from her TSW and, as she puts it, "Kick him in the booty".

In the last few months, I have also managed to kick the scratchy monster in the booty, as my skin has gone from bad to great. The book is about the experiences of all those who have healed from TSW, including myself.

100% of the money raised from the book will go to Itsan.

The book is ideal for kiddies going through this hell, but I also found it useful for explaining to my 3 kids how my TSW affects me. After reading the book, they "got it", straight away.

It is a great tool in our TSW armoury. I hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as we enjoyed producing it. Thank you so much to Itsan for having faith in our little story and putting it out to print.