While my agent, Tom, worked his magic on a list of publishers we thought might be interested in the Wild Pavements concept, I tried to distract myself with interviewing and researching some of the more complex issues I was planning to explore.

Then after a few near misses, Claire Hartley, a commissioning editor at Flint Books (an imprint of The History Press), got in touch with Tom in July 2024. She told him she loved the book and wanted to meet me. A relaxed three-way video chat followed. Claire was full of enthusiasm for urban nature and was very easy to talk to. She told me that this is was exactly the sort of book she’d want to read herself, and I assured her that I would put 100% into marketing Wild Pavements and was looking forward to working with her.

The following day Claire made us an offer, saying that the rest of the team at Flint had loved it too. We had no hesitation in accepting it and, after minor negotiations, the contract duly arrived a week or so later ready for signature.

Now the Wild Pavements project had a home, it was time to make the essential research trips to gather writing material. I’m very lucky to write a column for Bird Watching Magazine and I often write about good places to birdwatch in different cities. So, for the following twelve months, I combined by birding city trips with research for Wild Pavements, including meeting the lovely people across the British Isles who care for urban nature. My trips took me to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester, Belfast and Cardiff, where I found quirky hotels to stay in and tried as many branches of Wagamama’s as I could.