Readers Digest UK - December 2021

DECEMBER 2021 • 21

I press him a little more on the

famous people he has met and

sung for (The Queen, The Pope) but

the perpetual harking back to his

superstar boyhood, is, you get the

impression, a little tiring, even for

someone as laidback as Aled.

“I’m 50 now and it was over 30

years ago”, he says. So, we revert to

the subject of our interview, his first

children’s book. The story had been

inside him “for a very long time,” he

says. But he had never had a chance

to work on it. Then, when lockdown

happened, everything changed. “It’s

been a very strange 18 months. It

was like a scene from Harry Potter.

My diary was on my phone and all

my live concerts just disappeared in

front of my eyes,” he says. Although

the pandemic was devastating and

caused a great deal of hardship for

many people, being stuck at home

was, in his case, a great opportunity.

Aled parked himself in front of his

computer and started tapping out

the idea: he had to create a plot,

a plan and a story with authentic

dialogue. “My editor helped me and

he was brutally honest. I embrace

challenge, but writing the book was a

challenge. It’s all in the preparation,

READER’S DIGEST

“IT’S BEEN A VERY STRANGE 18 MONTHS. MY

DIARY WAS ON MY PHONE AND ALL MY LIVE

CONCERTS DISAPPEARED IN FRONT OF MY EYES”

Aled Jones and

Paula Yates

GA

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