The Ice Children

It gives me a huge amount of pleasure to reveal Elisa Paganelli’s magical cover for The Ice Children.

I wrote this story for Audible. It’s rich with sound. I’m super excited to hear the full cast recording with foley sound, music and all the wonder of audio drama. I even get to play a small part in it myself.

If you’re a subscriber to Audible, then this will be a free Christmas present as part of your subscription. If not you can preorder or purchase the download from 17th of November.

I hope you and all your family enjoy it.

THE BLURB!

At the stroke of midnight on the dawn of December, Jacob Albedo, a six-year-old boy, is found frozen solid in the city park. The doctor says his heart is still beating within the ice, but no one can wake him.

Bianca, his big sister, is determined to discover the cure. She remembers a strange man in a top hat giving her brother a sparkling book the day he was frozen, and sets out to find him.

As more children fall under the ice curse, Bianca knows she’s running out of time. When she gets her hands on the sparkling book, she steps into a magical world she never knew existed – a world of everlasting winter, ruled by its Snow Queen.

But the Snow Queen is melting, and Bianca must find a way to save her – and winter – before the Ice Children’s hearts are lost forever...

Into The Red

I was invited to contribute some words to Into The Red - the BTO’s (British Ornithological Trust) follow-up book to the Red Sixty-Seven.

Into the Red is a collaboration between 70 authors and 70 artists with a single goal: to raise funds to support conservation work aiming to reverse the declines of our most at-risk birds. Contributors include Nick Hayes, Nicola Davies, Jess French, Isabella Tree, Richard Mabey, Amir Khan, David Gray, Jim Moir, Harriet Mead, Brigit Strawbridge, Mackenzie Crook, Megan McCubbin, and many others besides me.

Each writer is allotted an endangered bird to write about and paired with an illustrator. I have the privilege of my words about the Starling sitting beside the incredible work of Ben Rothery.

Profits from the sale of this book are donated to BTO and The Rare Breeding Birds Panel to further their work on Red-listed birds. This book is a work of art. You can get your copy here.

Book launch for The Arctic Railway Assassin

On Thursday the 13th of October, The Arctic Railway Assassin was published and we celebrated in style at Hatchards in Picadilly, London.

This is the sixth and last book in the series for now. Who knows, one day we may create more adventures for Hal and Uncle Nat, but for now the train journey is over.

It was wonderful to be able to finally get together and celebrate all the wonderful people who brought these stories to life and into the hands of eager young readers. Special thanks go to Elisa Paganelli who is the artist behind Hal, and who illustrated every book, doing all the maps and covers too. Jot Davies is the talented actor who voices the audiobooks. Sarah Hughes is our incredible editor. Kirsty McLachlan is our fabulous agent. Really the list goes on and on. Despite what you may hear, making books is a collaborative process.

We hope you’ve enjoyed your Adventures on Trains.