The Machu Picchu Mystery Cover Reveal
I'm so excited to reveal the cover for the new Monstacademy mystery!
The mountains are full of secrets...
Trixie, Gloria and Colin are off on a trip to Peru to study ancient monsters. When they arrive and find that the children of the local school for monsters are disappearing, it becomes a race against time. Has a dark secret that's been trapped in the mountains come back to haunt them all? Has an ancient Inca curse been released? Or is it somebody much closer to home?
The Machu Picchu Mystery is perhaps the spookiest Monstacademy mystery yet. With Trixie and her friends on the case, whatever evil is at large has a fight on its hands!
Can they find the missing monsters and solve the Machu Picchu Mystery? There's only one way to find out...
The book is officially released on December 7th, but grab a copy from the store here and get it a few days before everybody else!
Carpool Readeoke
We all love reading. Encouraging reading for pleasure and a passion for reading in children is pretty much why most authors get into the game.
A couple of weeks ago, I had a great time recording a couple of videos with the awesome Phil Page of the DSAT academy. Phil shares a passion for reading and has worked tirelessly to grab, cajole and encourage tons of amazing authors and teachers into getting through their fears and to share their love of reading on camera.
It's all in the name of encouraging children to read, and boy has it been successful. Each author has read some of their own work whilst the teachers have chosen their favourite books. Schools around the county have joined in and loads of children have taken it upon themselves to add to the project.
You can see my videos embedded below (and my daughter's attempt on my YouTube channel), but check out the whole lot here (especially Halil Tamgumus - it will change the way you see the Gruffalo!).
A Choose Your Own Adventure Sample
Whenever I speak to people about The Magic Knight, I nearly always have to explain what a choose-your-own-adventure book is and how it works. When I was growing up, there were loads of these around, particularly the exceptional Fighting Fantasy series by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone.
To help people who aren't sure how it works, I've uploaded the first few sections of The Magic Knight in a playable format. Hopefully, this will give people a chance to see how it works before they buy.
If you fancy having a go, head to the Magic Knight free sample page now.
The Halloween Parade Reading
Not sure if The Halloween Parade is for you? Listen to me read chapter 1 here and then rush off to buy it!
Countdown to publication
With publication deadline looming large in the forefront of my mind, I've had some great news this week with the delivery of the illustrations for The Halloween Parade. The illustrator, Amalia Rendon, has done a brilliant job capturing the characters and bringing them to life, I can't wait for you all to see them in situ.
I've attached a teaser to whet your appetite.
Not long to go!
Halloween Parade Cover Reveal
It is with great excitement that I can finally reveal the cover for the upcoming first instalment of the Monstacademy series of books for children. It is titled The Halloween Parade and will enter editing at the end of this month. Thank you to all of the amazing beta readers who have and continue to give me great feedback on the story so far.
Due to the earlier than expected editing slot and hopefully with a fine wind and some eager work with my illustrator, I am hoping that you will all get to meet Trixie Grimble and her monstrous friends either before Christmas or not long after! Keep those fingers crossed!
Anyway, enough of the chit-chat and time for the cover!
I would love to hear your comments, questions and excitement in the comments below!
Monstacademy - New WIP
Welcome back avid reader and just in time for some exciting news about my next book. Whilst the follow-up instalment to The Spyglass and the Cherry Tree is being written (don't panic, you'll get to find out where Skye's adventures take her next!) I'll be editing and preparing a new series of younger reader stories based around the character Felicity Grimble. Read the premise of the story below and, as always, don't forget to sign up for the newsletter if you haven't already.
Can you imagine being kicked out of your comfortable school full of ordinary children and ending up forced to attend the horrible, spooky boarding school on the top of the big hill on the edge of town? The school that everybody knows is full of ghoulish monsters and that has earned the nickname "Monstacademy"?
Join Trixie Grimble on her adventures at Monroe's Academy for the Different as she soon discovers that not all monsters hide under the bed. In fact, some are actually quite nice including a poor, unfortunate young boy who, due to a twist of fate, has the misfortune of turning into a poodle every full moon!
Fans of The Worst Witch and Roald Dahl will love the quirky humour and interesting characters.
Arriving Spring 2018, spread the word and keep checking back for more information!