Bex Hogan - Viper: Book 1 (Isles of Storm and Sorrow) - Blog Tour Interview - Orion Books

Welcome to Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books. Today, I have a Q&A interview with Bex Hogan. This book has been an epic ten years in the making. In fact, there have been seven manuscripts and many rejections along the way. However, here we are celebrating the release of the fantastic debut book today. This week we are kicking off a blog tour with posts that will, hopefully, pique your interest. It's a brilliant high seas fantasy adventure that will take you to some amazing places. The book will be published on the 18th April 2019 by Orion Children's Books. It's going to be an epic trilogy that you will not want to miss. #StormAndSorrow

If you would like to know more about this book then please check out my book review HERE. So let us start this interview by welcoming Bex Hogan.

Your debut book, Viper, is the first book in the Isles of Storm and Sorrow. What can we expect and why should we read it? 
Viper is a YA fantasy adventure set on the high seas. The first in a trilogy, it follows Marianne, the Viper’s daughter, who has to choose whether she’s prepared to sacrifice everything to fight against her cruel father. You can expect corruption, betrayal, magic and romance, all set against a backdrop of beautiful islands and dangerous oceans. At times it’s brutal and bloody – so if any of that appeals and you fancy a read, you’d make a writer very happy.

How and where did you get the idea for this book? 
As so many of my ideas do, it came in a dream. It was a very vivid scene and when I woke up, I just had to know more about these characters. And what was going to happen next? What had led them to this point? 
Though the story has evolved through many drafts, this scene is still in the book, exactly as I dreamt it. 


Did you let the story and the characters take you on a journey or did you map out the whole plot and know exactly what you wanted to write? 
To start with, it was definitely a case of going on an adventure with my characters, just to get to know them, and glimpse the world they inhabited. But then there comes a point where you need to take the map back from them and plot your own course, otherwise, you could be wandering a bit aimlessly. And with plotting out a whole trilogy, it’s definitely important that you know where you’re going and why. 


What real-life inspirations did you draw from the worldbuilding within your book? 
Growing up in Cornwall near the coast, seeing the sea stretching beyond rugged cliffs every day, was a huge inspiration for the Twelve Isles. We used to go to the Isles of Scilly too, for holidays, island-hopping in boats, and they were very much my template for a world of islands connected by an ocean. 

Where is your preferred place to write? 
My favourite place to write is at my desk in my writing room. I was very fortunate that we were able to convert our garage a couple of years ago, so I have space to be creative. I would like to pretend that it’s a tidy desk, but the truth is I’m usually buried beneath a pile of paperwork, and notebooks full of jotted down ideas. And more paperwork. 

How important are stories to you? 
Stories are everything – I think they are to most people in one form or another. They can be friends when you are lonely, teachers when you need guidance, an escape when life becomes too much. They can carry the weight of history. Shape societies. Or simply entertain. 

Some of my favourite memories from childhood are the quiet ones where my mum would read to me, or my brother would make up stories for me on a moorland walk. I think the tales they told knitted their way into the fabric of my being, and will always stay with me. 


What genre of books do you like to read? Do you limit yourself to reading only the genre that you write yourself? 
The only requirement I have is that a book tells a good story, simple as that. It can be in any genre, although I do have a soft spot for historical novels, and of course, fantasy. But ultimately, all I want is to be swept away, to fall in love with characters and their lives, and to miss them when they’re gone. So not too much to ask!

Sophie Anderson - The House with Chicken Legs Blog Tour: Fifteen Russian Fairy Tales and What They Mean to Me

Hooray! Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books is the next stop for 'The House with Chicken Legs' Blog Tour. It is with great pleasure that I find myself taking part in this BLOG tour to celebrate the publication of the book. The House with Chicken Legs is one of the best debut books that I've read. It has a very distinctive plot which is told with great imagination. Please check out my book review HERE. 

Nevermind what I think though - why not check the book out for yourself and buy a copy now. 

Sophie Anderson has written an inspiring post about fifteen Russian fairy tales and what they mean to her. 


The Gigantic Turnip (on community) 


‘Grandfather planted a turnip …’ 

In this Russian fairy tale, collected and published by Alexander Afanasyev in 1855, when the time comes to harvest the turnip, grandfather pulls and pulls, but can’t get the turnip out. So, grandfather calls grandmother, and grandmother pulls grandfather, and grandfather pulls the turnip. But still, the turnip doesn’t budge.

So, grandmother calls granddaughter to help, and when the turnip still doesn’t shift, granddaughter calls her puppy to help. The puppy calls a beetle, who calls another beetle, and another. 


‘Then the fifth beetle came. He pulled the fourth beetle, the fourth beetle pulled the third, the third pulled the second, the second pulled the first, the first beetle pulled the puppy, the puppy pulled the granddaughter, she pulled grandma, grandma pulled grandpa, grandpa pulled the turnip; they pulled and they pulled, and they pulled out the turnip.’ 



The gigantic turnip is a simple tale about the power of working together. The individuals pulling on the turnip have different strengths, but it is only by working together they free the turnip – and the last, tiny beetle is equally as important as the grandfather at the front of the line. 


History is full of examples of people working together to make massive changes. The civil rights movement, resistance against apartheid, women’s suffrage, LGBT rights, and the environmental movement, have all achieved levels of success as a result of people working together. 


In recent months I have heard many people call for change to gun laws in the US; from former president Barack Obama, to eleven-year-old activist Naomi Wadler. All their voices are equally important, and perhaps the greatest power is in seeing so many individuals working together to create momentous rallies and demonstrations. 


Away from politics, and on a more personal level, around two and half years ago I began writing The House with Chicken Legs. Although this was an individual endeavour, right from the start I was aware of my family supporting me, all the stories and storytellers who had inspired me, and all the folklorists, mythologists, and historians who had often spend lifetimes researching and creating books that I now dipped into for information. 

At the point I submitted the book to agents, it already felt like a joint effort between myself and at least one hundred other individuals! 


And then I signed with my incredible agent Gemma Cooper, and she led me through several rounds of edits. And then I signed with Usborne, and my amazing editor Rebecca Hill led me through several more rounds of edits! And there were more editors! Becky Walker, Mallory Kass, and Sarah Stewart; as well as proof-readers, cover artists, cover designers, illustrators, marketing people, publicity people, sales people … a seemingly endless array of talented people all working together to bring The House with Chicken Legs into the world.


And then ARCs flew out and there were reviewers, book bloggers, librarians, teachers, and readers, all contributing to making The House with Chicken Legs a success.


Like grandfather wouldn’t have that turnip without the help of many others, The House with Chicken Legs wouldn’t be running around bookstores, libraries, schools, and reader’s imaginations without the help of the countless people who have worked together to bring it into the world, and I am immensely proud of this bookish community and what we have achieved together! 


There is a lovely illustrated picture book retelling of this tale, written by Aleksei Tolstoy and illustrated by Niamh Sharkey, published by Barefoot Books. 



Naomi Wadler’s speech at March For Our Lives: 




Arnold Schwarzenegger’s speech, ‘none of us can make it alone’: 

Sophie Anderson grew up in Swansea, studied at Liverpool University, and has worked as a geologist and science teacher in several parts of the UK. She wrote textbooks until characters from Slavic fairy tales began appearing in her work.

Sophie has an international family and loves to write stories inspired by different folklores, cultures, and landscapes. Her dream is to create books that help children to explore the world and fall in love with its beautiful diversity.

Now living in the Lake District with her teacher and photographer husband, Sophie enjoys the freedom of homeschooling her three children, walking, canoeing, and daydreaming.

Sophie is represented by Gemma Cooper of The Bent Agency. Her first book THE HOUSE WITH CHICKEN LEGS is publishing in 2018 with Usborne in the UK and Scholastic in the US. Rights have also sold in Italy, Germany, and Romania.

Sophie is on Twitter @sophieinspace, Facebook SophieAndersonAuthor and Instagram SophieAndersonAuthor

Robert J. Harris - Artie Conan Doyle and the Vanishing Dragon - UK Blog Tour (Kelpies)

Welcome to day two of the UK blog tour for Robert J. Harris and his brilliant new mystery 'Artie and the Vanishing Dragon'. This is an opportunity to celebrate the unveiling of a brand new book in the Artie Conan Doyle Mysteries. Published by Kelpies, The Vanishing Dragon will fly into bookshops on the 22nd March 2018. 

This is a week-long mission to entertain and entice you to pick up these brilliant books and read them. So sit back and relax as we're going back to the scene of the crime to investigate where and how it all began. Have your magnifying glasses at the ready throughout the week to follow the author's footsteps each day. Please see the blog tour list in the top right-hand corner of the blog.  Happy Reading. 

THE YOUNG DETECTIVES - NEW MYSTERIES FOR THE YOUNG GENERATION

I was about eight years old when I read my first detective story. It was The Mystery of the Pantomime Cat by Enid Blyton, featuring a group of young investigators called The Five Find-Outers. Though they never achieved the same level of success as Blyton’s other quintet (The Famous Five), nevertheless the Find-Outers had a long run of cases from 1943 to 1961.

Young detectives have long been a part of the mystery genre, including such stars as The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. My own favourite series is The Three Investigators, who began their career in 1964 with The Secret of Terror Castle. Their stories were introduced by famous film director Alfred Hitchcock, who played a role in that first case. I personally think the best of these is The Stuttering Parrot, which is both very clever and entertaining.

One of the most significant features of these mysteries for younger readers is that they are not centred on the sort of gruesome murders that dominate adult crime fiction. A good thing too, I say.

While I think of the tales I tell as primarily adventure stories, these adventures always include an element of mystery. With The Artie Conan Doyle Mysteries I have shifted towards detective stories (though they are still exciting adventures). As with all my books, my main rule is that a good book for younger readers should be one that adult readers (like me!) will also enjoy. By the same principle the mysteries in these novels are to be just as good, just as baffling, as any you would find in the great crime classics.

Part of the fun is trying to guess not only who committed the crime but why. In Artie’s first adventure, The Gravediggers Club, he needs to discover not only who has been digging up dead bodies, but also why they’re doing it.

The clues are another vital element to a good mystery. The clues, far from shedding any light, should make things even more baffling. The clues Artie comes across give him a headache more than anything else - that is until he finally understands what they mean.

It’s also hugely fun for the writer and reader if the crime itself appears to be utterly impossible. My favourite mystery writer John Dickson Carr is the acknowledged master of such puzzles as ‘How was a man able to jump into a swimming pool surrounded by witnesses and completely disappear?’

In The Vanishing Dragon Artie is faced with a similarly impossible crime; a gigantic mechanical dragon is stolen from a warehouse when the only exits and entrances are a door securely fastened with multiple locks and a window far too small for the dragon to fit through.

The crucial point in any mystery story is when the truth is revealed. If this is done well, the reader will see all the pieces of the mystery falling into place like a magical jigsaw puzzle fitting itself together. My aim is that as they behold the completed picture readers will cry out in delight, “Of course! Now I see!”

That’s what I enjoy in a good mystery.

Dan Smith - Below Zero - The Big Idea - UK Blog Tour (Chicken House Books)

It's a pleasure to be the fourth stop on the Dan Smith Below Zero blog tour. He will be visiting some great bloggers along the way, so make sure you check them all out. The blog tour list is in the top right-hand corner of the blog. 

Dan Smith's Below Zero was published by Chicken House books on the 4th of January 2018. I have also recently reviewed the book, please check that out here if you fancy doing so. 

All stories need a good idea to start the process of writing a book. When the book is finished that idea might not be the same path you thought the story might take. This is Dan's guest post how the idea for Below Zero was formed and involves food and Barry Cunningham. Enjoy people. Bon appétit!

Some time ago, I was having dinner with my publisher and he mentioned that he’d been reading about the Mars One project. I hadn’t heard of it until then, but he told me just enough to spark my interest. ‘Could be a story in there somewhere,’ he said. Or, that’s how I remember it anyway. And when Barry Cunningham says there might be a story in it, it’s a good idea to take note!


So, Mars One is all about sending people to live on Mars. People from all over the world have applied to be in with the chance of travelling in groups of four on a one-way mission to colonise the red planet. It would take about a year to get there, and the plan is that they will never return to earth.


I’ll let you think about that for a moment. They will NEVER. Return to Earth. 


Sounds completely crazy-bonkers, but Mars One claims that over 200,000 people have applied. That’s 200,000 people who want to leave earth and never come back. 


Yep, there had to be a story in there somewhere. People leaving families behind, maybe? Someone running from something and getting as far away from it as possible? Survival in space? It needed investigation. 


It turned out that these crazy-bonkers people would train in Antarctica, where conditions are the closest we have living on Mars. It’s tough there. Harsh. Isolated. Cold. Temperatures can drop as low as -90C, which is cold enough to freeze fuel and prevent planes from flying. At the coldest time of year, there’s no getting in or out, and most research bases are evacuated. There are abnormal day and night cycles, extremely dry air (did you know that Antarctica is our planet’s largest desert?) low oxygen levels, limited supplies, no variation in the environment, and parts of Antarctica are in continuous darkness for months on end. 


Scary. Maybe even scarier than going into space? 


Then I read about a 200km crack in the ice - ice that can be as thick as 4km in places - and I started wondering what might be down there. Waiting for us. And how long has it been there? Millions of years? Billions? So I began writing. I put my characters - Zak Reeves, his sister May, and his mum and dad - in a small plane, in the middle of the worst storm to hit Antarctica in years. When they finally reach Outpost Zero in one piece – a base where 32 people are training for a mission to live on Mars – they find it empty. Everybody has disappeared. The electricity is out, the communications are gone, and they face the prospect of being stuck there for six months in the cold darkness. As they search for the missing 32 people, strange things begin to happen with the machinery in the base; some of it seems to have a life of its own. And Zak begins to get visions, as if something out there, below the ice, is trying to contact him, trying to get inside his head. Something OLD. Something that has been waiting 
. . . 

BELOW ZERO by Dan Smith out now in paperback (£6.99, Chicken House). Find out more at chickenhousebooks.com and connect with Dan Smith @DanSmithAuthor

About Dan Smith

Growing up, Dan Smith lived three lives: the day-to-day humdrum of boarding school, finding adventure in the padi fields of Asia and the jungles of Brazil, and in a world of his own, making up stories.

Dan's Chicken House novels include My Friend the Enemy, My Brother's Secret and Big Game, the latter of which is now a major movie starring Samuel L. Jackson. His fourth novel for Chicken House, Boy X, published in 2016, and his newest novel Below Zero is publishing January 2018.

Dan lives in Newcastle with his wife and two children.

SaveSave

Anna Day - The Fandom - UK Blog Tour 2018 (Book Extract + Book Covers) Chicken House Books

(Chicken House - UK Book Cover)

Hello Everybody! Welcome to Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books and the Anna Day with The Fandom UK blog tour. To celebrate the publication of this book, which was published by Chicken House Books (4th Jan, 2018), Anna Day is taking us on an internet travelling experience. We accompany here through the week visiting some fantastic bloggers and websites. This should really give you a comprehensive insight into this brilliant book and the author. Please check out all the #jointhefandom stops, which are shown in the right-hand corner of my blog, to join this amazing journey. 

This is a brilliant Young Adult (YA) read. To find out more then read my book review Here. My post, as part of this tour, is to share an extract of the book, so there is a little taster for you to sample at the bottom of this post. 

I thought I would also add a little bit of fun and some interaction to this post by sharing some of the book cover examples from around the world. I have installed a poll so that you can vote for your personal favourite in the top right-hand corner of the blog.

German Book Cover 

It's fantastic to see the different translations from around the world for the same book. All four book covers are so different that you might actually think you were looking at a different book.

Italian Book Cover - I think that this is my least favourite book cover. It doesn't engage me as a male reader, even though it's a fantastic book which will appeal to and engage all readers. That's my opinion anyway. 

This is the US Book Cover which is very eye-catching. I love the butterfly. 

Which one do you like?  If YOU fancy voting at the top of the blog then why not do so. It's very easy - you just need one click. I am very interested to hear your thoughts and to see which cover you vote for. 

Here is the book extract for you to read. A little taster to the Start of The Fandom.

Portugal Book Cover - New one for today!



About Anna Day

Anna grew up and still lives in the North East of England. She was raised by a guitar-obsessed father and a mother with amazing cooking skills, and she still loves all things music and food related. She studied Psychology at university and worked for several years as an Assistant Psychologist. She then gained a doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2009 and has since worked as a Clinical Psychologist with people with disabilities. She has always loved creative writing; even as a little girl she would staple pieces of paper together and write stories for her parents to read. However, she only started writing seriously a few years ago and was noticed by the Chicken House team when she was shortlisted for the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition in 2015. Her greatest love is her children -- a little girl and a little boy, who provide her with constant entertainment and inspiration. You can find her on twitter: @annadayauthor 

Spellchasers: The Witch's Guide to Magical Combat Blog Tour with Lari Don 2017 - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

It's fantastic to be hosting the wonderful Lari Don on Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books. This is an opportunity to celebrate the release of the final thrilling installment of the spellbinding Spellchasers trilogy. The Witches Guide To Magical Combat was released on the 17th August 2017 and was published by Floris Books! It's been a fantastic trilogy and one that I would definitely recommend that you read. This is the penultimate stop on the blog tour where Lari Don talks about the writing process and what she has learned from writing a trilogy. This is a brilliant insight for readers and writers alike. 

For the last couple of years, I’ve had to change where I write. In order to get any peace and quiet round growing teenagers, I now do most of my writing in the garden shed, surrounded by rusting paint pots and lurking spiders... 

And over the last couple of years, I’ve also changed my writing process, in order to cope with the new experience of writing a trilogy. 
I’ve just finished writing the Spellchasers trilogy, and I have loved spending so much time with the same magic and characters. But it’s also been the biggest challenge of my writing life! 



Here are a few things I’ve learned about writing a trilogy: 

A trilogy is not three stories. It’s four stories. One story across all three novels, and a distinct story in each novel. That’s a lot of stories to juggle all at the same time. 

Keep hold of your central question. The first Spellchasers book begins with a girl, who has been cursed to turn into a hare when she hears a dog bark or growl, going to a curse-lifting workshop. So the big question of the whole trilogy is: will Molly lift her curse? How the curse affects her, how she tries to lift it, and who tries to stop her lifting it, those questions change in each of the three books, but ‘will she lift the curse?’ remains the central question. My job was to keep the central question fresh and new in each book, and to allow the subplots to enhance it, not obscure it. 

Make a decision about cliffhangers. I love cliffhangers at the end of chapters, but I find cliffhangers at the end of books really frustrating. I don’t want to frustrate my readers, so I made sure I didn’t end any of the Spellchasers books on a cliffhanger. I resolved a significant plot at the end of each individual book, and didn’t end on a ... 

Look for titles that play happily together. My editor and I didn’t agree on the titles of the individual Spellchasers novels until I was nearly finished writing the first draft of the third book. ‘The Beginner’s Guide to Curses’ was a line from the first book, and suggested a structure for the two titles, then we had to work out what character or aspect of a character to highlight in the other titles. The second title The Shapeshifter’s Guide to Running Away was suggested as a joke by my kids. (Even if they do drive me to the shed, they are still useful!) The final title The Witch’s Guide to Magical Combat gave me the perfect way into the big battle at the end of the last book.

Your baddies aren’t just there to growl, they’re part of the evolving story too. Even though I introduced new (darker, scarier, more powerful) baddies in each book, I wanted them to have connections to each other. I wanted each new baddie to be reacting to the defeat of the previous baddie, and to be picking up their dastardly plot and moving it ahead in a new way. So my Spellchasers team always had to deal with the consequences of their previous adventures... 

Accept you might need to change your writing process. I’m not a planner. I don’t want to know the end of a book, or even the middle when I start to write. I like to find out what happens next by writing it. I like to meet my characters by seeing how they cope with obstacles. I don’t use storyboards or mind maps or outlines. I just jump into the story and see what happens. That has worked fine for the last six novels. It worked fine for the first Spellchasers novel too, but by the end of the second novel, I started to have my doubts about it as a process for writing a trilogy. I realised that if I just wandered into the third book with a fistful of subplots, an increasing cast of characters, and a vague desire to see what happened next, I would end up with a book that was twice as long as the first two books put together. I abandoned my usual process (a terrifying thing to do!) and actually sat down and worked out what was going to happen. Though I made sure I left a few questions unanswered, so I had some discoveries to make as I wrote. And Molly’s final decision was a surprise to both of us! 

So, that’s what I’ve learned from writing my first trilogy. But everyone has to find their own writing process. Perhaps each of us needs a new writing process for each new story? Whatever I write next, I’ll be finding out ‘what happens next’ in my shed, looking nervously above my head for spiders... 

About the Author

Lari Don is a full-time children’s writer and storyteller. She grew up in the North East of Scotland and now lives in Edinburgh. She writes in her garden shed, helped by purring cats and hindered by lurking spiders. Lari has written more than 20 books, including adventure novels, picture books and retellings of traditional tales.

She can be found on Twitter @LariDonWriter or at www.laridon.co.uk 
The Spellchasers trilogy is available and out now.

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Barry Hutchison - Beaky Malone: Worlds Greatest Liar Blog Tour 2016

Now Beaky can't tell a lie - not even a teeny-weeny one - and a truth-telling Beaky is even worse than Barry Hutchison telling fibs all day. Beaky Malone World’s Greatest Liar was released on 2nd June 2016, published by Stripes Publishing and is set to be a super funny MG read! 
So welcome Barry Hutchison to "Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books." Catch up with cheeky Beaky Malone here in chapter one. 

Chapter 1 – Meet Beaky 

Theo heaved his bag higher on his shoulder and shot me a doubting look. 
“You don’t believe me, do you?” I said. 
He shook his head. “That you’ve been asked to go on an expedition to the North Pole?” he snorted. “No, Beaky, not really.” 
I pulled a wounded face. “That hurts, Theo,” I said. “Considering you’re meant to be my best friend, that really hurts.” I took a deep breath. “But you’re right. I haven’t been asked to go on an expedition to the North Pole.” 
“Knew it,” Theo said. 
“I’ve been asked to lead the expedition.” 
“Oh, right,” Theo replied. “Well, that’s much more believable.” 
“Apology accepted,” I said, as we rounded the corner leading on to our street. Theo lived three doors down from me, and we’d walked to and from school together since Reception class. We’d been the same height when we’d started, but these days he towered above me like a beanpole. 
“I didn’t apologize!” Theo grumbled. 
“You apologized in your mind,” I said. “Trust me. 
I’m moderately psychic.” “Course you are,” 
Theo laughed. “What number am I thinking of?” 
I tapped the side of my head with a finger. “Four.” 
Theo’s eyes widened a little, then he shook his head. “Lucky guess.” 
“I knew you were going to say that,” I told him. He grinned. “You’re such a liar, Beaky.” 
“How dare you, sir!” I said, raising my fists. “Do you know what happened to the last person who called me a liar?” 
“Yeah, nothing,” Theo said. “It was me earlier this morning when you said that eating jam made dogs explode.” “It does!” I protested. 
“I read it in a book.” 
We stopped outside Theo’s house. “Anyway, what about you?” I asked. “What are you up to this weekend?” 
“Well, I can’t compete with visiting the North Pole,” Theo admitted. “So I’ll probably just play Xbox and eat crisps.” 
I nodded. “Usual, then.” 
He vaulted over his gate and into his garden. “Pretty much. Enjoy the snow, Beaky. Watch out for polar bears.” 
“Oh, I’m not doing it,” I said. “They wanted me to wear a jacket, so I said no. I never wear jackets.” 
“You’re wearing one now,” Theo pointed out. 
“This is a waterproof coat,” I said. “They’re two very different things, Theo. Everyone knows that.” 
Theo laughed. “I stand corrected. See you tomorrow, then?” 
“You provide the Xbox, I’ll bring the crisps,” I said. We did our complicated farewell handshake, which neither of us really knew how to do properly, then said our goodbyes. I grinned the rest of the way home. Xbox and crisps. This was going to be a brilliant weekend. 
Or so I thought. 
“So,” said Mum, looking round the dinner table. 
“How did everyone’s day go?” 
Mum was smiling at us far more enthusiastically than usual. That, combined with the fact she’d made us a massive fry-up – which she only did on special occasions – told me something was up. I watched her closely, trying to figure out what it might be, but Mum could be pretty cagey when she wanted to be. 
Dad smiled. “Today, I wrote a song about…” 
He did a drumroll on the table with his fingers. “Toilet paper,” he announced. He dipped a chip in his fried egg and sat back. “I know, I know, I can tell you’re very impressed, but please … no autographs.” 
“Toilet paper? I bet it stinks,” I said, grinning proudly at what was clearly an excellent joke. No one else seemed to get it, though. 
“You take that back, Dylan,” said Mum. “Your dad works very hard writing his silly little tunes to put food on this table.” 
“Silly little tunes?” said Dad, gasping and clutching at his chest. “I’ve never been so insulted!” 
Mum waved a hand dismissively. “You know what I mean.” 
Dad shrugged. “Yeah, fair enough.” 
She had a point, I suppose. Still, I wasn’t convinced Dad worked that hard. The last jingle he’d written had been for a dog-food advert, and just went “Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof,”over and over again. 
“Sorry, Dad,” I said. “I’m sure your song’s great.” Dad shook his head. “Oh, it isn’t. It’s terrible. But thanks, anyway.” 
“What about you, Jodie?” said Mum. 
All eyes went to my sister who was slowly shoving some beans around her plate with her fork. She looked up and tugged an earphone out of her ear. “What?” 
“How was your day?” said Mum. 
“All right,” she shrugged, then she put the earphone back in. 
Mum kept smiling at her, expecting more. It didn’t come. 
“OK, then!” she said, turning to me. “Dylan?” 
“I fought a swan.” 
Mum blinked. Clearly, she hadn’t been expecting that. She glanced across to Dad, who rolled his eyes in response. 
“Right, well. A productive day all round, then,” Mum said. She cleared her throat nervously, then reached over and tugged Jodie’s earphones out. 
“Hey!” 
“I got a bit of good news today,” Mum announced, smiling far too broadly for it to be natural. “Aunt Jas is coming to visit!” 
Dad gasped. 
Jodie groaned. 
I spluttered into my glass, spraying orange juice up both nostrils. It was surprisingly refreshing. 
“What?” asked Dad. “What do you mean, ‘Aunt Jas is coming to visit’?” 
Aunt Jas is my aunt. The clue’s in the name, really. She’s Mum’s sister, and a bit like Mum, only younger, darker-haired and much, much louder. The last time she’d visited had been over a year ago, and we were only now starting to recover from the ordeal. 
Aunt Jas is a little bit … full on. She speaks at 100% volume all the time, and has a way of screaming when she laughs that sounds like fingernails being dragged down a blackboard. She and Mum always manage to rub each other up the wrong way, and are 
constantly trying to outdo one another. Her last visit had ended in them having a full-scale screaming match in the cinema. In front of 200 
people. During the film. 
I doubted Mum was looking forward to the visit, 
but she was doing her best to put a brave face on it. She popped a chip in her mouth and gave a shrug as she chewed. “I mean Jas is coming. For the weekend. Her and Steve and—” 
“Not the kids,” said Dad, his eyes widening in horror. “Please, not the kids.” 
“Of course she’s bringing the kids,” Mum tutted. “What else would she do with them?” “Sell them to the zoo?” muttered Jodie. 
“That’s no way to talk about your cousins,” Mum snapped. She was getting annoyed. Any minute now she’d start tapping her foot. Any minute after that, she’d explode. The tension needed to be defused and fast. Time to deploy some Beaky charm. 
I blew the juice out of my nostrils and set my glass down on the table. “Well, I think it’ll be nice having them here.” 
Dad and Jodie stared at me in disbelief. Even Mum blinked in surprise. “You’ve told some whoppers in your time, Beaky,” said Jodie. “But that’s got to be the biggest yet.” 
“Stop calling your brother ‘Beaky’,” said Mum. 
“Everyone calls him Beaky.” 
“Well, they shouldn’t,” Mum said, leaning over and giving my hand a comforting squeeze. “It’s not his fault he’s got a massive nose.” 
“I wouldn’t say it’s massive,” I protested. Jodie nodded. “It is. It’s proper massive.” “It’s statuesque,” I said. 
“It’s elephantesque, more like.” 
I flicked my fork, firing a ketchup-coated chip in Jodie’s direction. She ducked at the last moment, and our Great Dane, Destructo, leaped up from the floor and snatched it out of the air. It was a bit like a scene from Jurassic Park, but with a dog instead of a dinosaur, and a chip instead of a screaming tourist. While Destructo isn’t quite as big as a T-rex, his appetite is pretty similar. 
“Hey!” yelled Jodie, snatching up a wobbly fistful of egg. 
Dad held his hands up for calm. “Cut it out, you two,” he cried. “Everyone just calm down. Stop throwing food. Stop going on about Beaky’s massive great nose and let’s deal with the problem at hand.” 
He waited for Jodie to put her egg back on her plate (which she did, much to Destructo’s disappointment), then took a bite of sausage. “Now,” he said, chewing thoughtfully. “When are they coming?” 
“Tonight,” said Mum. 
Now it was Dad’s turn to choke. He seemed to inhale the sausage in one sharp breath. His eyes went wide and he frantically thudded at his chest, coughing and 
spluttering in panic. 
“Stand back, I know the Heimlich manoeuvre,” I announced, leaping up from the table. I didn’t really know the Heimlich, obviously, but I’d seen someone do it on telly once and it didn’t look all that difficult. 
Wrapping my arms round him from behind, I heaved my dad to his feet. It turns out he’s heavier than he looks, though, and I immediately toppled 
backwards, pulling him down with me. We hit the ground with a thud and an oof. The sudden impact launched the lump of sausage high into the air, where it was immediately caught by a delighted Destructo, who had no trouble swallowing 
it at all. 
Jodie leaned over the table and peered down at us. “So, that was the Heimlich, was it?” 
“Advanced Heimlich,” I wheezed as Dad rolled off me. “Just something I invented.” 
“Tonight?” Dad yelped, finally finding his voice. “Why are they coming tonight?” 
“Wasps,” said Mum. 
Jodie, Dad and I all looked at one another. 
“Everyone else heard her say ‘wasps’ there, right?” I asked. 
“They’ve got awasps’ nest,” Mum explained. 
“They’re not bringing it, are they?” I asked. 
Mum tutted. “Don’t be silly, Dylan. It’s in their house. They can’t get anyone to deal with it until Monday.” 
Dad’s face went a funny shade of purple. “Monday? They’re not staying until Monday, are they?” 
“Of course not,” said Mum. Dad seemed to relax a little, but it didn’t last long. “They’re staying till Tuesday.” 
“WHAT?!” 
Mum smirked. “Not really. They’re going home on Sunday.” 
Dad sat down in his seat and shifted uncomfortably. He looked at the rest of his sausage, then pushed the plate away. “I suppose it might not be that bad,” he said. “It’s only a couple of days.” 
“That’s the spirit,” said Mum, but she looked just as ashen-faced as Dad did. “And who knows? It might even be fun,” she added. 
“Fun?” Dad spluttered. He forced a smile. “I mean … fun. Yeah. Fun. You might be right.” 

As it turned out, though, she wasn’t.

With thanks to Barry Hutchison. 

Beaky Malone is available to purchase here.

Artwork by Katie Abey 

SaveSaveSaveSave

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Bryony Pearce - Phoenix Burning Blog Tour 2016 (Book Cover Design Process)

I am really pleased to be apart of this blog tour for Bryony Pearce’s second book in the "Phoenix" young adult novel series, which was recently published on 10th March 2016. I really enjoyed reading this book, so why not find out more by reading my review HERE. 

I swear my allegiance to the #BansheeCrew!  We are feared and fearless!  Come and join the crew and find out more about the process of book cover design. 

I was very excited when I was given the brief to design the cover of Phoenix Burning by Bryony Pearce. After really enjoying working on Phoenix Rising, I couldn't wait to start work on the sequel. 


I was asked to create a strong cover which would sit well next to the first title. Ruth, the editor, explained the main themes of the book – the importance of the sun, in particular – and explained how Toby and Ayla's relationship develops. I then went on to read the manuscript. It was a thrilling read, so I knew I also had to express this tension and suspense on the cover. 


As a starting point, I revisited the cover of Phoenix Burning. This cover design also focuses on three main elements – Toby, Ayla & the skull and crossbones. These were integrated in a clever way and the cover also fitted the YA genre. 

I then progressed to researching sun icons and experimenting with these, working out how best to show Toby and Ayla. I found that Ayla looking straight ahead was really effective, and contrasting this with the figure of Toby running also worked well. It was at this stage that I started adding more elements to the design – I chose to focus on the monks, who are a crucial and sinister element of the plot. 


My next step was to share my design with the rest of the Stripes team and with Bryony Pearce, the author. I wanted to make sure that the cover design fitted with their expectations, and that Bryony felt it was true to her story. I was also interested to find out which of the design elements caught their attention first. Some people were drawn to Toby running, others picked out Ayla's face first and others saw the monks’ faces within the sun's flames. From this, I made the decision to emphasise the sun itself, making it much clearer. This refining stage was key – once the sun was clearer, everything seemed to fall in to place. 


Once you read the book, the relevance of each of the elements becomes clear. However, without any knowledge of the story, they work together to convey the book’s energy and excitement. I hope you agree!

Bryony Pearce was born in 1976 and has two young children. She completed an English Literature degree at Corpus Christi College Cambridge in 1998 and was a winner of the SCBWI anthology 'Undiscovered Voices' in 2008.

Website: http://www.bryonypearce.co.uk
Twitter: @BryonyPearce