Charlie Anne and Bekinda are two friends that have known each other for just about half a century!
They met in the last year of primary school, and though life has taken them to different parts of the country over the decades, they've always kept the friendship going. They discovered how well they work together when a fortunate set of circumstances meant that Bekinda became Charlie Anne's lodger for a while. Bekinda was trying to learn the guitar at the time and Charlie Anne decided to join in. Before long, they were having a lot of fun making up duets together. The blast they had was why they knew working together as Pink Turnip would also be rewarding.
Charlie Anne is a highly accomplished illustrator with over 35 years of experience and numerous publications, both paper and digital.
Dr Bekinda has been working for nearly 40 years in fields related to human behaviour. The majority of the those years has been in user-centred product development, but animal behaviour has been an interest since getting her first cat at the age of 5. A lot of her pocket money went on books about cats.
Both of them have had a long-standing love of cats and dogs, and between them, have had the privilege and blessing to share their lives with many feline and canine companions over the years.
The inspiration for the Lucky and Lilly books arose one afternoon when Bekinda had taken a friend's daughter to her netball tournament. As usual, if a situation allows, she always takes her dog Loki with her. Lost in the excitement of the match, she was unaware of the fact quite a crowd had formed around him behind her. When she did turn round, she was confronted by throng of girls from about 5 to 15 all reaching out and petting Loki. Lucky for everyone involved, he's a very chilled-out, good-natured dog and was lapping up the attention. However, it did alarm Bekinda that it could have been a very different story if Loki had been a very slightly different dog. And so, the idea for Meet Lucky was born.
Oh, and in case you're wondering "Why Pink Turnip?". Well it's to do with Bekinda and Charlie Anne's nicknames at school, but we'll leave those kinds of stories for another day...