Brett's bright idea is one in a million
IT was while he was sitting anxiously at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield waiting for his triplets to make their arrival in November 2003 that Brett Walker had the inspiration for his new project – a book that is certain to be a hit with romantics everywhere.
"It was a very stressful time. The triplets were two months' premature and I was worried about them and about Tracie, my wife. Then I started worrying about how I was going to support these three little people and buy all the things that would be needed to help them through life.
"I'd bought the flowers and the chocolates for Tracie and I thought there had to be a better way of letting her know how much I loved her after all she'd been through. So I got some card and some string and made a book for her that said 'I love you' one million times – and that book became the prototype," said Brett.
Brett and Tracie live with their lively triplets, Cash, Alfi and Gypsy, now five, at Elland Road, Brighouse. He developed the format for 'A Million Times' in his spare time while working as a delivery driver and helping out with the triplets and has been trying to market the finished book through local shops and his website, so far selling more than 1,300 copies.
"In some ways it's a such a simple idea that I can't believe no-one's done it before. It's just a book that says 'I love you' one million times. The font size gets smaller and smaller so that you need a magnifying glass to read the last pages. I've protected the format by copyright and the scope for future books is endless – 'I'm sorry', 'Thank you', 'Will you marry me?' and so on.
"So long as people keeping falling in love, I'm sure I've hit a winning formula," said Brett. "I've priced the book at 4.99 so that it makes an extra gift to go with the flowers and the bottle of wine on that special occasion. I worked out that if you were to tell that special person that you loved them one million times, it would take about 114 years!"
"I've developed the concept on my own at home and so far I've had a good response to the books. But it's hard work trying to market them myself and the ideal for me would be that if a major store chain took them up."
Brett admits it took him a couple of years to develop his idea because of the round-the-clock demands of three babies. "The first few months were a total blur. We were just on auto-pilot, coping as best we could with these three little ones."
Tracie and Brett had been trying to start a family for 10 years when Gypsy, Cash and Alfi were born in November 2003 after a second attempt at IVF. It was a busy and stressful time for the family and there was a further scare in 2004 when Gypsy was taken ill with meningitis.
But now the triplets are happy and healthy and have settled into education at Withinfields Primary School, Southowram.
"The mornings are a bit of a rush and you have to get into a routine but it is getting easier," said Brett.
(Read the full story in the Brighouse Echo 23/4/3009) Cash is into gymnastics and sport, Alfi seems to be the clever one and Gypsy loves drawing and making things.
“I came up with the idea for the books while I was trying to work out how much it would cost me bringing up the triplets. It is my way of securing their future and I hope that it catches on and that other people like it. It would be great if it became a best-seller.”
l For more information log on to www.amilliontimes.co.uk
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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