While I was writing the first Violet story, I actually used her Theory of Finding Small Things quite a lot. Early on in the story I was having a little bit of trouble thinking of a good name for Violet's brother (even though I already knew the names of all the rest of her family and knew lots of things about her brother, like that he was a very good violin player). The names I had thought of were Edward, Henry and Sage, but none of those seemed quite right. I went for a walk, as I often do when I'm trying to figure something out, and instead of thinking of a name I found myself thinking about a small friend I have who lives quite close to me and who, like Violet, has a flower name. Just as I was thinking about her I spotted a sprinkling of special confetti on the ground outside the wedding reception centre I was walking past - lots of tiny white-and-rainbow doves. I picked up as many as I could and put them in my pockets and then thought more about my flower-named-friend, since I'd been thinking of her right when I spied the tiny doves. I knew it had to be an important thought but at first it seemed like a bit of a mystery, since I couldn't really give him a girl's flower name! But then I remembered that her big brother's name is Dylan and it was perfect.
- By Anna Branford
