Domestic turmoil is all write with Debi

WORKING at home sounds the perfect balance of parenthood and career that, on paper at least, provides the best of both worlds.

There's just one problem. Unless you happen to be from the same mould as leading children's author and illustrator Debi Gliori, young children and working at home go together like scalding coffee spilled into the hard drive of your laptop.

Today, the woman whose picture books are crammed on shelves in many a pre-schooler's bedroom, is getting used to a home that's much quieter than it once was, the chaos and turmoil of five young children replaced with a calmer ambience.

With her three boys having flown the nest and the remaining pair – girls aged 11 and 13 – becoming increasingly independent , Debi might finally be enjoying the perfect atmosphere for someone whose salary depends on getting the creative juices flowing. Except, she's really not.

For while most work-at-home parents crave the space to finish off that vital bit of work – usually juggling a day of interruptions to wipe noses or search for lost Lego, a quiet house is the last thing Debi wants.

"I need chaos," she laughs. "I love the noise and domestic squalor that I live in – it's brilliant. I've loved being around my children. They are, each of them, wonderful human beings who make me laugh like a drain.

"I suppose having had five kids I'm a bit of a one-person population explosion. But luckily this is a job I could do while they were in bed but not so good while they are milling around, requiring your attention."

Despite long spells as a single mum with five young children under her feet and a publisher snapping at her heels, 48-year-old Debi has soared to the top of the children's authors charts, becoming one of the country's best loved and most prolific producers of beautifully illustrated, heart-warming picture books.

Cuddly cute bunnies, great lolloping shaggy bears with giant arms for equally giant hugs and little voices asking big questions – her most successful picture book No Matter What poses the question of whether love can even survive death. There can't be many parents who haven't read a Debi Gliori book to their freshly bathed, sleepy toddler without a little lump in their throat.

Add to that a hugely successful Gothic escapist Pure Dead series of novels about the bizarre Strega-Borgia family – must-reads for a generation of ten-year-olds and upwards – and the first of a new series of four books aimed at seven-year-olds about to hit bookstores, and the Haddington-based writer and artist begins to sound like something of a supermum.

If doing all that while trying to raise five children mostly single-handedly – she has married and divorced twice – makes any other work-at-home parents wonder where they're going wrong as they scrape rusks from the CD-ROM before logging on to work at midnight, Debi can reveal all: she couldn't have done it without the help of her children's nanny and her garden shed sanctuary.

"After my first book was published I went straight to the bank manager, who turned out to be the most fantastic bank manager possible , and said, 'Here's the plan, you'll pay for a nanny and I'll do the best to get my career up and running'. Incredibly they said okay and I got the money," she recalls.

"It did turn out that our nanny earned more money than I did, but at least the children were looked after."

Debi's passion for words and art took root in a lonely and miserable childhood in Glasgow. In contrast to her own thriving horde of offspring, she was an only child who didn't fit in with her peers.

"I didn't have the odd bits about me rubbed off by siblings, and I didn't have a lot of friends so I rather fell between the pages of a book for solace, as a retreat."

The young Debi didn't find home much of a comfort either. "I was miserable as a child, I hated every bit of it.

"My mum and dad were engaged in a battle royal over my head, they split up and I became a human ping-pong ball."

Little wonder that she left home at 15 and set about desperately seeking the love and comfort she hadn't experienced at home.

At 17, she became a single mum in Glasgow's tough Maryhill area, and while it was a harsh introduction to adult life, having her son Rowan was a turning point – she quit Glasgow for Edinburgh in 1975 eager for a fresh start and a place at the city's College of Art.

Soon she had fallen in love with the market town of Haddington in East Lothian, where she has lived ever since, retreating into the garden shed outside her home to pick up her trusty fountain pen to write, plugging away even when her early manuscripts were unceremoniously returned.

"After art school everyone said the work I was doing was wonderful but I'd have to go to London to succeed. I would rather floss my teeth with a circular sander than go to London. I was determined I was staying up here.

"I'm not sure if I was being stubborn or delusional. And it's quite gobsmacking now because when I look back it's incredible that I didn't just give up."

She kept going through four more pregnancies and two collapsed marriages to produce more books than she can even count – "I think it's 80 or so," she shrugs.

They are usually churned out at a fairly rapid pace, the popular Pure Dead novels morphing from blank pages to a full manuscript, handwritten using her favourite fountain pen, in 12 months flat.

Soon, bookshops will have another Gliori book on their shelves. Witch Baby, aimed at a younger audience than her Pure Dead series and older than her picture books, arrives in July.

"Witch Baby took a ridiculous amount of time to do, nearly two years," she admits.

Now she is concentrating on its follow-up and another picture book for youngsters, despite the relative peace and quiet.

"It's not too bad because I happen to be living in DIY central at the moment. Everyone is banging and hammering and then the next door neighbour goes out with the Strimmer. So it could be worse," she laughs. "I'd never get anything done if it was too quiet . . . "

Witch Baby by Debi Gliori is published by Corgi on July 3, price £4.99.