In his posthumously published book, The Minpins, Roald Dahl wrote, “Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”

I’m not sure when my belief in magic faded, but I know that as a child I was certain of its existence. As my mother drove the winding Bermuda roads, I would sit on my dad’s lap in the passenger seat of our open-top car staring up at the stars. They shone so brightly in the island sky and I was mesmerised as I contemplated the endless mysteries of the universe.

As I grew older the peace I gained from staring into the sky dissipated. Magic ceased to be part of my reality.

I missed the comfort the feeling provided, but as life began to take its toll, I had no room for it. It hurt me more than it helped me because I couldn’t find any wonder in the world I had created for myself.

By reading books and watching films I could sometimes reignite those old sentiments, but they never stayed with me when the reel ended or the final page was read. I wondered: how was I to regain magic in my soul? It turns out I had to create it.

It was never my intention to write for children. Childhood is such a short part of our long lives yet it shapes us fundamentally. I think about the children with whom I have not yet been blessed and how I can’t wait to take them on fantastic literary adventures with pirate-conquering Peter, adventurous Alice, Winnie and Piglet, Mowgli and Baloo and all the other marvellous characters that inspired me in my youth. So to add to the canon of children’s literature was an intimidating venture that I thought was beyond me.

Yet earlier this year, as a result of one unremarkable summer day, I held in my hands a copy of my first published work; an illustrated children’s book entitled The Little Cottage.

Shortly after their wedding, my friends Aziza and Cal moved into their aunt’s small cottage.

That day in July, lying prone on their couch, I peeked through the window at the water that flowed under the adjacent Somerset Bridge. I gazed around the quaint, traditional Bermuda home and I improvised a rhyme about the little cottage by the world’s littlest drawbridge. Our friend Jen was amused so I saved the words into my phone before we journeyed up to Dockyard. Stumbling into Bermuda Clayworks we happened upon a miniature turquoise clay cottage and the ad-libbing continued.

I returned some time later to the note and began to craft a story. Quite quickly The Little Cottage became a living, breathing, central character whose feelings mirrored my own. Experiencing my own ill-founded loneliness, I wrote about a cottage that had been abandoned for many years. This sad narrative had to change, for both of us, so I introduced a key to turn in his lock and open the door to a better existence.

However, I fell victim to the dreaded writer’s block and, close to putting the work aside, I visited some Bermudian friends living abroad. I read the incomplete book to their young daughters, Saskia and Gabriella, and when the day came that they asked to hear the rest I had to admit that no more existed; that my inspiration was gone and I didn’t know if I could finish the story. With the bright-eyed enthusiasm of youth, they offered their assistance. With their suggestions reinvigorating me, we finished the tale about the true nature of home.

When I was their age I met a girl who shared her tuna fish sandwiches with me. It was the start of a lasting friendship. I have watched Alicia Wanklyn develop as an artist and her portrait of my younger siblings hangs in our home. After our collaboration for Caribbean magazine Island Life, I knew Alicia was the only illustrator I wanted for this truly Bermudian book. She has created bold and breathtaking art that decorates my words and colours the story beyond my original vision.

With the blueprints of the story drawn and the foundations of the illustrations laid, we needed support to construct The Little Cottage. Through a Bermuda Arts Council grant and an online crowdfunding campaign the walls were erected. By creating a publishing company I gave the cottage a soul. Now a multi-service company, Hall of Life’s ethos remains the same: give back more than we receive. Profits of every project must partially benefit an on-island charity. They must give life.

For The Little Cottage, one mysterious day changes the course of his life. For me, one summer’s day transformed my loneliness into a fairy-tale.

You see, dear reader, magic exists in us all. It’s in family, friendship, love, and the stars that shine above Bermuda and, if you look and listen closely enough, you could even find it in the rooms in which you live. If you only just believe.

• The Little Cottage is available at the following stores: The Bermuda Bookstore, The Bookmart at Brown & Co, Regali Luxury Gifts Boutique at Rosewood Tucker’s Point, Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, AS Cooper’s in Dockyard and The Book Cellar in St George’s.

• For further information visit www.halloflife.org or www.thelittlecottagebook.com.