Best selling former Upper Mountains author Aaron Blabey officially had all his dreams come true late earlier this year.
His book The Bad Guys - hyped as a "Tarantino for kids" which has sold millions of copies in print - had its Australian movie release on March 31. When he saw it he got emotional.
As an executive producer on the fast-paced animated movie he has been across every draft of the screenplay, the casting decisions, and all the cuts of the movie.
"It's been a long journey. We originally spoke to (Dreamworks) at the end of 2016, so it's been a long journey watching it grow," he told journalists recently. He was courted by multiple studios for the rights but said Dreamworks "got the irreverence" of it.
"I love American movies and its come full circle - it's very gratifying and a strange situation to be in. It's a great big action movie for kids which you just don't see."
Back in 2016 he told the Gazette he was having this "surprising purple patch ... which won't last. I'm running wildly beyond capacity".
It was in the Blue Mountains where all the inspiration came for his current success.
On a walk in early 2013 and staring down the barrel of 40, with seven books that had mostly fallen flat commercially, he walked around Leura and Katoomba and thought up 13 edgy ideas to give to publisher Scholastic. It was his last hurrah. They ate up every one of them it was his ka-boom moment.
"I had two kids and had to turn the picture book into a proper job," Blabey said.
"I keep going for walks thinking it will happen again but it hasn't. Somehow I just got the key to the door of the universe," he told the ABC recently.
"It was that thing, how you can just keep hammering and hammering and get nowhere and then a slight shift to the left, you slightly alter the angle somehow [Scholastic asked him to pitch a shorter book with animals] and it was just really lucky that [my publisher] made that call."
Young readers can't get enough of the naughty comic strip based series about a group of misunderstood man-eaters, led by Mr Wolf who tries to convince his pals - Mr Snake, Mr Shark and Mr Piranha, no less - that instead of being killing machines, they should work for the forces of good.
"It was a desire to mash up things I loved as a kid."
One reviewer from The Weekend Australian famously said of the very popular series: "I don't know what Aaron Blabey is on, but I want some ... This is a great story."
I don't know what Aaron Blabey is on, but I want some ... This is a great story.
- The Weekend Australian
Blabey cites music, films and a horror experience at a big advertising agency as his greatest inspiration, as well as the Blue Mountains bush. And he really admires Ricky Gervais and Bob Dylan [he has 50 of his albums].
"I'm a huge fan of Ricky's meanness in his comedy. I just find that intrinsically funny, somebody who's just mean and has a blind spot. And Bob's the sun and the moon as far as I'm concerned."
His books have spent more than 120 weeks on The New York Times Bestseller List.
His box office hit stars Blabey's favourite actor Sam Rockwell as criminal mastermind Mr Wolf. There is a movie adaptation of Thelma the Unicorn for Netflix and the family is contemplating a move to America for work.
