About the Authors of Smirtz
Once upon a time ... in Denmark,” a dad told his youngest daughter made-up bedtime stories about a boy called “Smirtz.
The Story Behind the Stories
So, to be more accurate about this “story behind the stories”: Around six years ago (circa 2020), the dad (Jesper) told on-the-spot Smirtz bedtime stories each evening to Arendse. Back then, she was around 6 years old.
After some time, she wanted to read for herself before bed instead of hearing stories. This later inspired her to start writing herself, and so – about four years ago (circa 2022) – she began writing down the Smirtz stories in Danish, with her big sister and dad quickly joining the project. And for almost two years, we worked on and off on these stories when time permitted.
After finishing them around mid-2024, we made the decision to translate them into English, as it suited our humor far more. (It was also around that time we started our IG account: “@family_writing_a_book” which you can find a link to here: Contact Us
This translation process has also taken almost two years, as writing in English furthermore opened up a whole new universe of possibilities for refining the stories and making them better.
And so, here we (finally!) are, with the upcoming publication.
We know we’ve so far mostly referred to “us” as a one-unit, “Borg-like collective” (“Star Trek, The Next Generation” reference), so we thought we might also introduce ourselves individually, as we have different skills and interests which we’ve tried to utilize for this family project.
Arendse
As mentioned, this project is spearheaded by 12-year-old Arendse as the book’s main author.
Besides reading and writing, her interests very much revolve around dance.
She attends the Royal Danish School of Ballet (and “yes,” … they have regular school courses besides ballet) and then dances even more in her free time as part of some of our city’s wonderful after-school activities.
5 quick facts about Arendse:
Favorite food: Sushi.
Favorite movie or series: ‘Brooklyn 99’.
Favorite book(s): ‘Twilight’.
Favorite pastime: Dancing.
Biggest dream: A Golden Retriever puppy.
5 quick facts about Esther:
Favorite food: Sushi.
Favorite movie or series: ‘Gilmore Girls’.
Favorite book: Hard to choose ... but likely something by the Brontë sisters.
Favorite pastime: Dancing and acting.
Biggest dream: Becoming a writer.
Esther
Esther is the big sister and, at age 15, wears many ‘hats’ in this family book project, including: co-author, co-proofreader, social media expert, and co-translator of the book into English.
She enjoys reading, writing, school (and “no” … that’s not a lie), dancing, and especially acting. She’s a regular on the city’s local theater scene, including the yearly ‘Rock Musical’, which is created, directed, and performed by young people (aged 13-18) from our town.
Jesper
Jesper is the dad and co-author, and also assists with translation and proofing.
He holds several ‘unofficial titles’ in the household, including (but not limited to): chauffeur, human-ATM, snack provider, mediator, and “verbal punching bag” (especially when playing ‘Fortnite’ with Esther).
5 quick facts about Jesper:
Favorite food: A good burger.
Favorite movie or series: ‘Interstellar’.
Favorite book: ‘Babette's Feast’ (org. title: ‘Babettes Gæstebud’) by Karen Blixen.
Favorite pastime: Watching American Football.
Biggest dream: To become a professional NFL cornerback, although “that ship has sailed” – or perhaps more accurately: “that dinghy sank as soon as it touched water.” (But making and publishing a book with his two daughters is a pretty good dream too.)
He works as a lawyer (actually, his real title is longer and mind-numbingly boring) at a Danish shipping company. He’s also an external lecturer at Copenhagen University in International Law and has written a legal book with the easy-to-remember title: “Enforcing International Maritime Legislation on Air Pollution through UNCLOS.” (If you missed it on the New York Times bestseller list… well that’s because it was never there … for good reason.)
Why We Embarked on This “Family Book Project”
We think it is fun to do stuff as a family. And working on this project allowed us to do something cool and exciting together that, hopefully, will result in a very tangible outcome: a book.
This project has also allowed us to explore our creative sides, while learning to overcome the “creative disagreements” that naturally occur during such a process, as we were working towards a common goal.
The book-writing journey has also been extremely educational for everyone involved in terms of broadening our skills in areas such as reading, writing, grammar, creative storytelling, and improving our communication skills in both Danish and English. (Although the dad tries to avoid mentioning the “E-word” (“Education”) when describing the benefits of this endeavor, as both daughters are hyper-allergic to learning outside school.)
It is also our profound hope that this project can help create friendships with people around the world on similar paths or with similar aspirations. Or simply to connect with others who want to share experiences about what it’s like to live and go to school in another country and hear how it is here in Denmark.
Our Visions: Inspiring Children to Read, Write, Draw, and Explore
With our book and this website, we want to inspire other children, pre-teens, and teens to read, write, draw, and explore their own creativity. (Okay… “and adults.”)
The book tries to “walk the walk”, as it is an actual book in the sense that there are almost no pictures in it. Only a few drawings, which were all made by hand by Arendse. This means that it is up to the reader – or listener – to imagine how the characters look and how the stories unfold.
It is our vision that “The Stories of Smirtz” can inspire readers to explore other books and perhaps begin writing something themselves.
Drawing Smirtz and his adventures could also be a fun option for some of the younger readers (listeners). And, as we also state in the book (in the “Afterword”), we would love to see what you have drawn or written. Just send it to us.
Sharing What We’ve Learned from Working Together as a Family
As mentioned earlier, it’s one of our biggest hopes that “The Stories of Smirtz” can serve as the perfect book for “Family Reading Time” or a “Family Book Club.”
But also that it can inspire joint creative family projects, where all members of a family chip in with their individual skills to create something memorable. And it doesn’t have to be a book. It can be ANYTHING! Building a treehouse? Raising ill-tempered Seabass (extra credit points if you get that reference).
And that’s also why we have our blog where we share what we’ve learned from this family book-writing journey (including self-publishing), to inspire others and help avoid some of the obstacles we encountered along the way.
See for example our blog posts about.
We think it is fun to do stuff as a family. And working on this project allowed us to do something cool and exciting together that, hopefully, will result in a very tangible outcome: a book.
This project has also allowed us to explore our creative sides, while learning to overcome the “creative disagreements” that naturally occur during such a process, as we were working towards a common goal.
The book-writing journey has also been extremely educational for everyone involved in terms of broadening our skills in areas such as reading, writing, grammar, creative storytelling, and improving our communication skills in both Danish and English. (Although the dad tries to avoid mentioning the “E-word” (“Education”) when describing the benefits of this endeavor, as both daughters are hyper-allergic to learning outside school.)
It is also our profound hope that this project can help create friendships with people around the world on similar paths or with similar aspirations. Or simply to connect with others who want to share experiences about what it’s like to live and go to school in another country and hear how it is here in Denmark.
Basically, how you’re able to do a project like this without killing each other. (Okay, okay, your family is perhaps more balanced and less unhinged than we are, so that might not be an issue for you. But we sure came close a couple of times...)