Cogheart by Peter Bunzl is a steampunk adventure featuring a clockwork fox; Lily, a less-than-demure Victorian schoolgirl whose absent father is hiding an awful secret; Robert, the clockmaker’s son, who is plunged into danger whether he likes it or not; nasty teachers, cruel housekeepers, mirror-eyed thugs; airship chases… OK, stop. You had me at “clockwork… Read More
A Ghost Called Dog, by Gavin Neale, is a magical fantasy adventure. Seven-year-old Abby and eleven-year-old Chris move with their parents to a new home, and before long strange things start to happen. Abby starts talking to imaginary animals – first a rabbit, then a cat. Or are they imaginary? If they are, little Abby… Read More
Today will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of excuses for procrastination, and soon it will see the end of writing downtime forever. I’m talking about the release of Scrivener for iOS. I’ve been using the Windows version of Scrivener for years, and can’t imagine taking on a novel-length project without… Read More
It was an exciting week for The Beast on the Broch, because the post brought an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) from Cranachan. This was the first time I’ve seen the book in print, complete with cover. The package was wrapped up in Pictish Beast wrapping paper, and contained a postcard featuring Dawn Treacher’s amazing cover… Read More
I’m a bit late to the party with Gabrielle Kent’s debut novel. Alfie Bloom’s second adventure, Alfie Bloom and the Talisman Thief, was released just recently, so I thought it was about time I got on board. There’s a pattern to books of this type – a young protagonist with an old-fashioned British first name… Read More
Today was interesting – I received my first-ever royalty statement from Freight Books. The Wreck of the Argyll was released in September last year, and this statement includes sales up to the end of May this year, so realistically it covers the majority of sales that the book is going to achieve. It doesn’t make for… Read More
Today, those fine folks at #ScotLitFest – Scotland’s first virtual literary festival – were kind enough to host the cover reveal for The Beast on the Broch. With art by Dawn Treacher and design by Anne from Cranachan, I really couldn’t be happier with it – Dawn has really captured Talorca and the Beast, and I… Read More
I’ve lost track of how many revisions The Beast on the Broch has gone through. It’s had the most complicated lifecycle of any of the novels I’ve written. I began the book in the autumn of 2013; I’d only managed a few thousand words when I had to take a break for personal reasons, so it… Read More
Testing times
These are testing times for kids. A couple of days ago, Abi Elphinstone (author of The Dreamsnatcher and The Shadow Keeper) took sample SATs tests for English and Maths and failed horribly. I made this for all the kids sitting SATs this week after taking a sample online test 😘 #SATS2016 #SATsweek #SATS pic.twitter.com/FlcASRfaYU — Abi Elphinstone… Read More
Mystery & Mayhem, from Egmont Publishing, is a collection of twelve short stories featuring sabotage, missing dogs, purloined jewels – and murder. I like a good mystery. My first book, The Wreck of the Argyll, is often described as a “WWI spy thriller”, but for me it’s just as much a mystery, with my plucky young… Read More