A woman with curly, blonde hair wearing black glasses and a maroon top standing in front of a wall with schematic diagrams and text related to music or audio equipment.

Children’s Author.

Toy Designer. Artist.

“Everything starts with the story”

Pick your path. Are you here to learn about my new children's book, Gavin the Glamour Snail? Do you want to read about the origins of Fugglers? Explore Pre-Fuggler history, and discover the books I wrote in the noughties? Recruit me for a project? Buy books or art from my store?

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Book cover titled 'Garin The Glamour Snail' with an illustration of a snail with colorful patterns on its shell, a pink heart, and a black leaf on a yellow background. Written by Louise McGettrick and Emma Shoard.
A basket full of original Fugglers. Photo taken by Shaun Vincent
Book cover titled "The Invisible Friend" by Louise Arnold, featuring a young boy with brown hair holding a stick, surrounded by ghostly, spooky characters and eyes peeking from a brick archway.
Louise McGettrick, aka Mrs McGettrick
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Book cover titled "G Neon the Glamour Snail" with colorful watercolor illustration of a snail with decorative accessories, on a bright green background. Authors' names are Louise McGettrick and Emma Shoard.

Gavin the Glamour Snail 

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The story of Gavin the Glamour Snail began after I became a parent. I think there’s a very well meaning trend in literature where we embrace differences by adopting them. The happy ending arrives, and with it everyone becomes identically unique!

It started to feel really important to be able to tell my daughter a story that celebrated difference without homogenising it.

This realisation came as she was discovering a love of nature. Woodlice in her pockets. Emergency seeds for befriending crows. A snail hotel in our garden, providing them with food, bedding and - though she’d disagree - an entirely unnecessary amount of costume jewellery.

Gavin the Glamour Snail was born.

A two-page spread with watercolor illustrations of a feather, a flower petal, a seed, and a garden scene, accompanying a poem about small beginnings leading to growth.

Gavin looked like every other snail - brown, beige, and a little bland.

Gavin didn’t feel like every other snail though.

When the wind brings him a sparkling gift, it sets his life on a brand new path;

To become the world’s first Glamour Snail.

A tale about standing out, staying true to yourself, and lighting the way.

Just by being you.

Buy A Signed Copy of Gavin the Glamour Snail In My Store
Order Gavin the Glamour Snail on Amazon

Fuggler Creator 

Louise McGettrick, aka Mrs McGettrick, posing with three handmade Fugglers.

It’s a tale as old as time, so here’s the abridged version; girl gets bored Christmas shopping, purchases a plastic bag full of loose fake teeth, starts cramming them into the faces of plush dolls and accidentally starts a viral business.

Fugglers began in 2010. They were intended to be a joke for people to find online: a story that you become part of. Next thing I knew I was chasing after a run away business; registering trademarks, managing 4 month long waiting lists, and filing taxes. I guess every story needs a plot twist.

Eventually it became apparent that Fugglers had outgrown me. Seven years and two months after making the first ever Fugglers, I sold the business.

In 2018, Fugglers moved out of the spare bedroom of an end of terrace house, and moved in with Spinmaster Toys. In 2024, they made the leap to Zuru Toys, where they still live today. Fugglers aren’t showing any signs of slowing down - instead, they are travelling into new regions, and have even been cross breeding with brand giants like Jaws, Spongebob Squarepants, DC superheroes, Lord of the Rings, Gremlins, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

As story endings go, it’s pretty perfect.

My toys came to life, and set off for new adventures.

So, if you're here to ask me to make you a Fuggler, I'm afraid this cupboard is bare. Like any proud parent, I have plenty of photos and stories to share, but my hand-made creations left home a long time ago. To keep up to date with their more recent antics, visit them in their new home with Zuru.

The original Etsy shop still exists, but it’s now a McGettrick family art shop and a playground for our artistic experiments.

Need more Fugg-Lore? Click here for The Unabridged Fuggler Story, Fuggler Facts, and Gallery

Children’s Author

Book cover titled 'The Invisible Friend' by Louise Arnold, featuring a boy with a thinking expression and a pencil, surrounded by transparent and ghostly faces of various creatures and characters against a brick wall background.

I wasn’t always Mrs McGettrick, and I wasn’t always a toy designer. Before Fugglers I had a writing career, and before I was married I had a much easier to spell surname; Louise Arnold.

In 2005 “The Invisible Friend” was published by Hodder UK (released under the title “Golden & Grey: An Unremarkable Boy and A Rather Remarkable Ghost” in the US). Two sequels followed: Ghost School, and A Good Day For Haunting.

The plot centres on a human boy, Tom Golden, and his ghostly best friend, Grey Arthur. It’s a story about an unseen world around us, full of big characters and magic, but at it’s core it’s about both the loneliness and comradery of being different.

The books were translated into Japanese, German, Danish, Polish and more. At one stage Dreamworks Animations even optioned the rights to make a film (it didn’t pan out, but I still have the branded CD case they gave me, which should date the experience nicely.)

The books are now long out of print, but you can find second hand copies online, and I still have a few in my office that I’ll add to the shop.

Accolades

  • "A delightful debut" - The Sunday Times

  • "[R]efreshingly original, funny, and endearing even in the face of danger. " School Library Journal

  • "A joy to read aloud" - The Sunday Times

  • "Full of high jinks and heart..." Booklist

  • "If you enjoyed the early Harry Potter books, it's right up your street." The Funday Times

Awards

  • Parent's Choice Award

  • Nutmeg Book Award Nominee

  • Bank Street Best Books Of The Year

  • Kansas NEA Reading Circle List Starred Intermediate Title

  • Beehive Award Master List (UT)

  • Great Stone Face Book Award Nominee (NH)

  • Bolton Children's Book Award nominee

Book cover titled 'The Invisible Friend' by Louise Arnold. Features a young boy with brown hair holding a straw, surrounded by ghostly, spooky faces and creatures under an archway.
Book cover titled 'Ghost School' by Louise Arnold featuring a young boy with a yellow flashlight and various ghostly characters in the background.
Book cover titled "A Good Day for Haunting" by Louise Arnold, featuring a cartoon girl with a surprised expression, a ghostly skull, and a haunted house background.
Cover of a Japanese translation of The Invisible Friend, featuring cartoon characters like a boy with bags, children, a dog, and various whimsical creatures on the cover.
Japanese book cover of The Ghost School book. Illustrated images of characters, including a boy in pajamas, a girl with access, a vampire, a monster, and a skeletal figure, set against a white and yellow background.
Book cover of 'Arthur Unsichtbar' by Louise Arnold, featuring illustrated characters including a boy with a strange expression, and ghostly or spooky figures in the background.
Book cover of 'Arthur Unsichtbar' by Louise Arnold, showing a young boy holding a magnifying glass, with ghostly and mysterious characters in the background.
Book cover titled "Den usynlige venn" by Louise Arnold, featuring a girl sitting on her bed in her room with a large white ghostly figure of a dog at the foot of the bed and a stack of photo albums on the floor.
Book cover for 'Golden & Grey' by Louise Arnold, depicting a boy with a thoughtful expression holding a stick, with ghostly figures and dark, mysterious background.
Book cover for 'Golden & Grey: A Good Day for Haunting' by Louis Arnold, featuring a girl with short hair surrounded by a skeleton and a ghostly figure in a dark, spooky setting.
Book cover titled 'Golden & Grey: The Nightmares That Ghosts Have' by Loisne Arnold, featuring animated characters including a boy with a magnifying glass and various spooky ghostly figures in the background.
Buy Signed Books In My Store
Buy The Invisible Friend on Amazon
Buy A Good Day For Haunting on Amazon
Buy The Ghost School on Amazon

Hire Me 

Louise McGettrick, aka Mrs McGettrick.

I am available for short-term freelance work or can provide a daily rate as a creative consultant. If you have a project you’d like to discuss, please get in touch.

A plush toy resembling a creature with sewn buttons for eyes, a big smiling mouth with white teeth, and holding a red heart-shaped pillow.

Contact

Interested in hosting a book event? Hiring me as a creative consultant? Got a burning question you need answered? Get in touch.