For Children

Rory the Dragon and Princess Daisy

Rory’s not a typical dragon. He’s gentle and doesn’t like the idea of capturing princesses and locking them up. The problem is that his gentleness has been noticed and the older dragons don’t like it. Daisy isn’t a typical princess either. She quite likes the excitement of being captured but isn’t keen on marrying the various princes who come to call. Then, when the two of them meet, they realise it’s quite fun being different.

This book is very different from all my others, and not just because it’s for children. I wrote it years before my great-niece, Daisy Elizabeth Warn, was born on 7 July 2009. When Daisy was just 5 weeks old she was diagnosed with (Type 1) Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a rare and very severe neuromuscular condition. Sadly, it’s incurable and Daisy lived for just 16 weeks. I live at the other end of the UK from Daisy’s home and so I never met her but the photos and videos show a beautiful, smiling baby and it must have been heart-breaking for those around her to know that she’d never survive.

Throughout her short but happy life, she and her family received amazing medical and emotional care, support and love from the Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW).  It’s the only charity in the whole of the South West of England which offers help and support to children and their families who are living with life–limiting conditions.

To show their gratitude for the work and love of the CHSW’s staff, Daisy’s two grandmothers and two great aunts formed the Friends of Daisy Chain, a family group which, since its creation has helped to raise thousands of pounds for the charity. And it occurred to me that this book, with its Princess Daisy, might help to add to the total. My nephew, Joe, did the illustrations and my brothers and sisters have worked hard to publicise and market it. It really has been a family affair dedicated to the memory of our own Daisy and the love she inspired.

All proceeds from sales will go to the CHSW and if you’d like to know more about any of this, contact:

gillytom@blueyonder.co.uk or lizzieB8@blueyonder.co.uk

 

The Loch Ewe Mystery

Kidnapped, tied up, locked in a room in a remote cottage, with a guard downstairs, and no idea of how to get free, Ben and Charlie are scared and have no idea why their sailing holiday on Loch Ewe on Scotland’s west coast has become such a nightmare.

Ben is a dreamer, Charlie prefers facts, but they make a good team. The holiday starts well as Ben’s dad teaches them to sail and they get to know the changing moods of the loch and the magic and power of the Scottish Highlands.

But the loch’s mood changes and a squall forces them to seek shelter on Ewe Island, where Ben’s father has an accident and Ben has to sail back through the squall alone for help. It’s the start of an adventure which involves three ruthless drug smugglers, led by the particularly vicious Lomax.

Escape is impossible and yet they must break out. If they don’t, they know that, when Lomax returns, they’ll be in very real danger.

 

And then there’s Stanley…

Stanley’s a fairy and so far, he’s the subject of eight stories which have appeared on a couple of websites. Those appearances have earned him a few fans, mainly among the ladies, and I’d love to find an artist prepared to provide illustrations for three books’ worth of stories.

Not all fairies live in flowery glades or dingly dells. Nor do they all have gossamer wings or leave sparkling trails in the air as they fly. Stanley wears dirty shorts, a T-shirt with a tear in the back for his wings, a scarf, thick woollen socks and football boots. He lives in a washbasin with a dripping tap in a bedroom in Scotland, which suits him perfectly. He’s everything fairies aren’t – miserable, grumpy, male, with an unfairy name, a predisposition towards melancholy and a pathological dislike of every normal fairy association. Being such an outsider, he’s also pretty aggressive in defending his chosen status, and, as a result, the person in whose bedroom he lives (a man called Jack), has to be extra-tolerant and all the things Stanley isn’t.

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