Stuart Webb - Time Traveller Jenny at Chatsworth - Book Review

After self publishing two great books on his own, Stuart has now finally been rewarded with the opportunity to write a book for the publishing company Seven Arches Publishing.

This is a long standing and well received series of books that has gained many avid readers along the way. This is the tenth book in the series, but this book is uniquely different to the rest. The publishers ran a writing competition to decide the setting and some of the ideas within the book. The overall winner was William Johnson who wrote about the fantastically grand Chatsworth House. However, Stuart also expertly wove other ideas and elements into the story making this a true collaboration in parts. 

I have to admit that I hadn't read any of the previous books in the series, but I had no problems picking up this book and engaging with it. Don't worry if you're in a similar position as it reads like a stand alone book. It provides a great slice of historical, time travelling fantasy that all readers will really engage in. At the heart of the story is the fantastic setting which is written with passion. The extensive knowledge and research that the author has enagaged with provides an accurate account of place, time and events. It really does enhance the story with a particularly realistic and believable presence. 

Jenny, whose brother Danny is an experienced time traveller, is recruited without Danny knowing by the rogue operators. Her life is in danger when she goes back in time to the beautiful mansion at Chatsworth. Jenny's secret missions set her on course of danger and mystery - on the way she meets a very famous person who is locked up in Chatsworth House. It is an amazingly fast paced and action packed adventure that all children from the age of 9+ will enjoy. However, it is also interestingly educational as the reader will learn many historical facts.

The characters are very memorable. There is a dark element to the story which is threaded throughout giving the story a hidden depth. I was engaged until the very end of the book and actually felt rather disappointed when I came to the end of the book.

In my opinion Stuart has written a really good book - I expect that the other books in the series are also written to the same high standard. If you would like to know more about the book or perhaps the route to becoming published, then check out Stuart's guest post that he has kindly written. Read Here.

If you would like to check out the publisher's website for this book, the other books in the series or other books that they have published for children, then click on the following link. http://www.sevenarchespublishing.co.uk/ 

Guest Post: Stuart Webb - Time Traveller Jenny at Chatsworth (Getting Published)

It’s a funny old world - just when I’d given up chasing publishers for a book deal, I found that one was hard on my heels, contract in hand…

For six long years I knocked on every publisher’s door I could find, searching for someone to love and nurture my first children’s novel, Aurora’s Tears, and then my second, Lyme Hall. Although I had a number of near misses (and gained an agent) along the way, eventually I ran out of people to pester. 

Then I found myself faced with a difficult choice: should I self-publish or concentrate on my next novel? It wasn’t a decision I took lightly, as there’s not only the obvious cost implications of self-publishing, but there’s also the impact on your life in general. When you already have a full time job (in the aerospace industry, in my case) it’s hard to take on another role as editor/proof reader/cover designer/sales and marketing manager for your latest book, whilst making sure you still have an hour or two left for your family. 

Backed by a supportive and understanding wife and daughter, who stood behind me all the way, I elected to self-publish both Auroras Tears and Lyme Hall. Fortunately, the books sold well, with positive feedback from all who read them, encouraging me to start on my next novel.

It was whilst I was working on my third book that there came a knock on my own door. It was a publisher, which bizarrely is based in my home town of Stockport, saying that they’d read a copy of Lyme Hall, liked it, and wondered if I’d consider writing a book in their Time Traveller series. The rest, as they say, is (quite literally) history. My book, Time Traveller Jenny at Chatsworth, is the 10th book in the series, the previous books having been written by an assortment of other authors. 

Although it’s part of an existing series, the book can be read as a standalone novel. In fact, the plan is that I’ll continue with my character, Jenny, and develop a sort of ‘series within a series’.

The setting for the book, and part of the historical action, was actually the result of a competition Seven Arches ran, asking children to suggest the location of the next Time Traveller book. The winner, William Johnson, suggested Chatsworth House, in the time when Mary, Queen of Scots, was being kept a prisoner there. So, I used the winning suggestion and wove a little fiction around the real historical events at Chatsworth.

The series is aimed at 8-12 year olds, but I’m sure, from my own personal experience as an avid reader of children’s books, it will also appeal to ‘more mature’ readers. 

Time Traveller Jenny at Chatsworth was published in March, and we've already secured a number of signing events, including one in the departure lounge at Manchester Airport – as I said, it’s a funny old world!

Thank you Stuart for the very interesting guest post. I hope that you will all support his book. If you're not already convinced then my book review will follow at the end of the week, so keep an eye out for that......