Updates categorised as "Books".
- Books
The cover for my second novel, THE EMPEROR OF MARS, kind of snuck its way out into the world last week without telling me. So, it’s time to officially give it its freedom here.
Without further waffle, here it is in its full glory:
The cover art is by Jeremy Holmes, just like for book 1. I think it’s great.
THE EMPEROR OF MARS is out on January 10th, 2017.
You can pre-order it now: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository (International)
- Books
Hey folks. Exciting news for me! I have a new novella coming out on June 16th, 2016. It’s called THE DINOSAUR HUNTERS, and it’s set in the same world as SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB and THE EMPEROR OF MARS, but it takes place a year before SECRETS and is a completely standalone novella.
Ever wondered where the dinosaurs were in SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB? Want to find out more about Regency Mars? Can’t bear to wait for THE EMPEROR OF MARS to come out? Wondering what all the fuss is about? Here’s your chance to find out!
You can pre-order THE DINOSAUR HUNTERS now from Amazon, or buy it from most ebook stores or my website on June 16th.
Pre-order: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | Amazon Australia
Or: Add on Goodreads
If you have a review blog or site and you’d like a review copy, please send me a message!
Here’s the blurb!
Mystery, murder, and adventure on Mars…
Mars in 1815 is a world of wonders, from the hanging ballrooms of Tharsis City to the air forests of Patagonian Mars, and from the ice caves of Noachis Terra to the Great Wall of Cyclopia, beyond which dinosaurs still roam.
Sixteen-year-old Harriet George has never had the chance for an adventure. Now her older sister is determined to marry her off. Harriet can’t think of anything worse.
Meanwhile, her brother-in-law, Bertrand, has a problem. He’s never been much of a police inspector. As far as Harriet knows, Bertrand has never caught a criminal in his life. But now the famous jewel thief, the Glass Phantom, has come to Mars, and Bertrand has been given the job of tracking him down. If he fails, Bertrand will lose his job and the whole family will be ruined.
Harriet will not let that happen.
So she comes up with a plan: she will capture the Glass Phantom herself. Even if that mean that she and Bertrand have to follow the thief’s intended victim, the Countess von Krakendorff, on a dinosaur hunt in the perilous Martian wilderness. But there is far more going on in this expedition than mere robbery, and the dinosaurs are not the greatest danger.
If Harriet cannot solve the mystery, her family won’t just be ruined. She and Bertrand may not make it out of the wilderness alive.
The Dinosaur Hunters is a thrilling adventure set in the world of Secrets of the Dragon Tomb.
Pre-order: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | Amazon Australia
Or read the opening:
Harriet George had been dressed as a boy for the last week, and she still wasn’t sure her brother-in-law had noticed.
“The thing is, Harry old thing,” the Honorable Bertrand Simpson said as he hunched morosely over his twelfth cup of tea that morning, “disguises are such dashed confusing things. Can’t tell if a chap is a chap or, you know, another chap.” He stirred his tea listlessly.
It had never been entirely clear to Harriet how her brother-in-law had managed to work his way up to the post of Inspector in the Tharsis City Police Service. As far as Harriet could tell, Bertrand had never solved a single case in his entire life.
Unfortunately, Harriet suspected that she wasn’t the only one who had figured that out. It was the only reason she could think of as to why Bertrand had been given the job of capturing the Glass Phantom. The Glass Phantom had evaded police forces in France, Austria, Britain, and Chinese Mars. He’d helped himself to the Crown of Charlemagne from under the nose of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard and had stolen the Orlov Diamond from the Imperial Scepter of Catherine the Great. No one with an ounce of common sense would risk their career tracking down such a notorious and difficult-to-catch jewel thief.
Which was why Bertrand, who wouldn’t have recognized an ounce of common sense if it had fallen into his morning tea, had leapt on the offer like a piranha-mouse on a stray muffin.
Bertrand came from a good family – his father was the fifth Baron Heatherstone – but his family’s estates on Earth had long ago been sold off to pay their debts. Bertrand’s father had brought the family to Mars to seek his fortune on a new world, but it hadn’t made any difference, and Bertrand scarcely had a penny to his name. In his position, he should have married a young lady with a good dowry. Instead, he’d married Harriet’s older sister, Amy. If it hadn’t been for Bertrand’s job, Harriet was certain they would have starved within the year.
And then, five years ago, Harriet and Amy’s parents had died, and Amy and Bertrand had taken Harriet in. She knew it had been hard for them, and she knew they’d given up a great deal for her. She owed them everything.
When Bertrand failed to catch the Glass Phantom, he would lose his job and it would be an absolute disaster for them all.
Harriet would not allow that to happen.
“You know, the Glass Phantom might not actually be in disguise,” Harriet said, trying to cheer her brother-in-law up. “I mean, why would he?”
Bertrand groaned. “That makes it even worse. If he’s not in disguise, how am I going to tell who he’s not disguising himself as?”
Which, Harriet thought, summed up rather neatly why her brother-in-law never actually caught anyone.
Enjoying it? Pre-order now: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | Amazon Australia
I’ll post more of the opening closer to the publication date
Don’t forget that if have a review blog or site, you can ask me for a review copy. Please send me a message!
- Books
A lovely review for SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB from the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. It’s wonderful when a reviewer really gets your book.
Readers might as well check all disbelief at the door and just embrace this look at a nineteenth-century British Mars that has solid hints of steampunk and features dangers aplenty to excite a kid hooked on spy tales. Such a kid is twelve-year-old Edward, who has been waiting his whole life for something like what he reads in Thrilling Martian Tales. Adventure comes in a rush, as a kidnapping, a much-desired water abacus, a metal assassin, and a mysterious cousin who may be a good guy, bad guy, or just bumbling fool all fall into Edward’s lap (and into the lap of his gender-defying little sister who aids him more than he’ll ever admit). Indeed, it quickly becomes clear that to save their family, Edward will need the skills of his more clever younger sister, his more socially graceful older sister, and his more adept cousin, even if he wishes he could be a solo hero like in the stories. The dialogue is snappy, and the characterization is historically plausible while still giving room for the characters to react to being on another planet. Science fiction meets classic adventure tales in this quirky novel, and it’s a real treat to know that it’s the first in an intended series. Fans of Reeve’s Larklight (BCCB 2/07) will embrace the premise, and readers will happily return for the next entry to see what happens next on Mars.
- Books
A little while back, I blogged about new middle grade novels coming out at the beginning of 2016 by debut authors. Because you can never get enough middle grade, here’s the next batch of awesome, exciting, brilliant books that are due to hit the stores in the next few months (and one that’s out already but didn’t get included in the last roundup).
So, here we go:
Published: January 12th, 2016.
Cheryl Blackford’s debut novel is set in England during World War II and told from the dual perspectives of ten-year-old Lizzie, a homesick girl evacuated from bomb-blitzed Hull to the remote Yorkshire valley, and Elijah, a local gypsy boy. When Lizzie discovers an abandoned baby, her dangerous friendship with Elijah is put to the test. Will Lizzie be able to find the baby’s parents? And if she does, can she and Elijah remain friends in a world clouded by prejudice and fear?
I lived for a few years in Yorkshire, and a wonderful setting for a book it is. This book is out already, so don’t hang around. Go get it right now!
Goodreads | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Author Website
Publication: March 1st, 2016
In the coastal village of Maiden Rock, Maine, Quinnie Boyd’s teacher has disappeared. Quinnie thinks it’s a kidnapping case, but her mom, the town sheriff, just thinks the teacher has left town. Still, Quinnie’s going to follow her instincts that something’s wrong.
Her investigation takes her through a damp and smelly marsh, a lobster pound, and more of Maine’s messiest places. She even gets help from her glamorous new neighbor, Mariella. As the girls hunt for clues around Maiden Rock, they encounter a cast of unlikely characters. And if Quinnie’s hunch is right, the search may lead them right into danger…
Published: March 1st, 2016
Life is confusing for Mateo Martinez. He and Johnny Ramirez don’t hang out anymore, even though they used to be best friends. He and his new friend Ashwin try to act like brave, old-time knights, but it only gets them in trouble. And last night, two skunks stole Mateo’s old trike.
Wait—two skunks stole his trike?
Mateo is too big for that rusty kid toy. He has a cool, shiny new bike anyway. But Mateo also has a neighborhood to protect. And he’s about to begin a big, stinky quest to catch the thieves in the middle of the night!
As Mateo protects his neighborhood, he also learns a few things about growing up and letting go.
Goodreads | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Author Website
Published: March 8th, 2016
I’ve been particularly looking forward to this one.
On a stormy May day in 1929, William and Maxine arrive on the doorstep of Battersea Manor to spend the summer with a grandfather they barely remember. Soon after they settle in, Grandpa receives a cryptic telegram and promptly whisks the cousins off to New York City so that he can meet an unknown courier and collect a very important package. Before he can do so, however, Grandpa vanishes without a trace.
When the cousins stumble upon Nura, a tenacious girl from Turkey, she promises to help them track down the parcel and rescue Grandpa. But with cold-blooded gangsters and a secret society of assassins all clamoring for the same mysterious object, the children soon find themselves in a desperate struggle just to escape the city’s dark streets alive.
This book has been described as a cross between Indiana Jones and the The DaVinci Code.
Goodreads | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Author Website
Published: March 15th, 2016
Written in the voice of Mikey, a fourth-grader who believes that eating crunchy things will get your neurons to fire, The Lost Celt follows Mikey’s adventures after a chance encounter with what he thinks is a time-traveling Celtic warrior.
With the help of his best friend Kyler, and clues from his military history book, Mikey tracks down the stranger, and in the process learns about the power and obligations of friendship.
Full of heart, The Lost Celt throws a gentle light on some of the issues facing our veterans and their families, but it’s the humor and infectious camaraderie throughout this book that makes it so memorable.
Goodreads | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Author Website
Published: April 1st, 2016
When her best friend’s house is threatened with foreclosure, young Annie Jenkins is full of ideas to save the home: selling her appendix on eBay, winning the lottery, facing down the bankers … anything to keep Jason from moving. But Jason’s out-of-work dad blows up at the smallest things, and he’s not very happy with Annie’s interventions, which always seem to get them into more trouble.
But when Annie tracks a lost treasure to Jason’s backyard, she’s sure the booty will be enough to save Jason’s family. Pirate treasure in the Midwest seems far-fetched, even to Annie, but it could be the answer to all their problems. Now all she has to do is convince Jason. As the two hunt for answers and the pressure gets to Jason and his family, Annie discovers that the best-laid plans aren’t always enough and there are worse things than moving away.
Published: April 5th, 2016
Definitely a candidate for the most awesome book title of the month.
Xander Miyamoto would rather do almost anything than listen to his sixth grade teacher, Mr. Stedman, drone on about weather disasters happening around the globe. If Xander could do stuff he’s good at instead, like draw comics and create computer programs, he might not be counting the minutes until the dismissal bell.
When spring break begins at last, Xander plans to spend it playing computer games with his best friend, Peyton. But little does either boy realise that they are about to be thrust into the biggest adventure of their lives — a journey wilder than any Xander has ever imagined, full of weird monsters even worse than Lovey. To win at this deadly serious game they will have to rely on their wits, courage, faith, and especially, each other. Maybe Xander should have listened to Mr Stedman about the weather after all…
Goodreads | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Author Website
Published: May 3rd, 2016
Ella and Skyler have been best friends since kindergarten — so close that people smoosh their names together like they’re the same person: EllaandSkyler. SkylerandElla.
But Ella notices the little ways she and Skyler have been slowly drifting apart. And she’s determined to fix things with a fun project she’s sure will bring them closer together — The BFF Bucket List. Skyler is totally on board.
The girls must complete each task on the list together: things like facing their fears, hosting a fancy dinner party, and the biggest of them all — speaking actual words to their respective crushes before the end of summer. But as new friends, epic opportunities, and super-cute boys enter the picture, the challenges on the list aren’t the only ones they face.
And with each girl hiding a big secret that could threaten their entire friendship, will the list — and their BFF status — go bust?
Goodreads | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Author Website
Published: June 28th, 2016
I love this cover!
Last summer, Quinnen was the star pitcher of her baseball team, the Panthers. They’re headed for the championship, and her loudest supporter at every game was her best friend and older sister, Haley.
This summer, everything is different. Haley’s death, at the end of last summer, has left Quinnen and her parents reeling. Without Haley in the stands, Quinnen doesn’t want to play baseball. It seems like nothing can fill the Haley-sized hole in her world. The one glimmer of happiness comes from the Bandits, the local minor-league baseball team. For the first time, Quinnen and her family are hosting one of the players for the season. Without Haley, Quinnen’s not sure it will be any fun, but soon she befriends a few players. With their help, can she make peace with the past and return to the pitcher’s mound?
Goodreads | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Author Website
That’s all for this edition. What a fantastic variety of new books. Don’t they look awesome? Don’t forget to pre-order them or ask your local library to do so.
Good reading!
- Books
One Day To Go
Yep, yep, yep. SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB is out tomorrow, January 12th, 2016!
If you pre-ordered it from Book Depository or Amazon or somewhere else, your book should be on its way to you already! Keep an eye on your mailbox.
Today, I thought it would be a great time to meet the characters of SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB.
“I was hanging from a rope, fifty feet up the side of a great pillar of red Martian rock, with my arms buried in a sopping curtain of tanglemoss and bury-beetles trying to build a hill over my head…”
All 12-year-old Edward Sullivan wants is to be left in peace to read his Thrilling Martian Tales magazine. Instead he has to keep his chaotic family from disaster. And when disaster does strike, he is the one who will have to save them all.
“I’ve had lots of practice waking people up. It’s one of my specialties.”
Edward’s little sister, Parthenia (Putty), is incredibly enthusiastic and as impressionable as wet putty. Like their father, she is a genius, but she rarely keeps her attention on anything for more than a day or two at a time.
“A man who starts the day without a kipper is a man who will feel like a smoked fish until bedtime! So says Plato, or, er, someone.”
Cousin Freddie is a well-known but well-meaning idiot. But when he — literally — crashes in, everything starts to descend into chaos. Freddie is up to something, and Edward needs to find out what before it’s too late.
“What if someone sees us? What would they think?”
Edward’s middle sister, Olivia, is the most proper person he has ever met. How will she cope when she finds herself in the middle of the Martian wilderness, far away from civilization?
“You know, none of my family have shown the slightest interest in the device. I had once hoped that Edward might follow me, but…”
Papa is a genius, there’s no doubt. He’s the most successful mechanician on Mars, and his wild inventions have changed both Earth and Mars. It’s just a shame he doesn’t have a little more time for Edward.
“They called me the Crystal Rose of Tharsis, you know. Every young gentleman admired me.”
Mama was once one of Society’s most adored young ladies, hosting salons that were the envy of Tharsis City and with a host of admirers. But when her father gambled away the family fortune, nobody wanted to know her anymore and she has never quite recovered from the snub.
“It is remarkably handsome. Is that the latest London style, Cousin Freddie?”
Edward’s oldest sister, Jane, is possibly the sweetest person on Mars, but as far as Edward can tell, she’s never had a single thought in her head that isn’t about fashion or young men.
“My business carries me to Mars so infrequently that, when I found myself in the area, I could not resist the temptation of taking a slight diversion to pay my respects to one of my dearest friends.”
The famous archaeologist, Sir Titus Dane, was once of Mama’s admirers but no one has seen him for ten years since he disappeared in a cloud of disgrace. So why has he turned up out of the blue and what does he want with Edward’s family?
“I always carry my rock samples with me. You never know when you might need them.”
The small geologist is obsessed with rocks, but there is more to him than meets the eye.
“Grrr. Argh. Grrr.”
…are villains and rascals. The villains! The rascals!
The illustration of Edward and his family is by Jeremy Holmes. Copyright Christy Ottaviano Books.
- Books
Two Days To Go
It’s juuuuusssst two days until SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB is officially published, two short, possibly rainy (in Wales, at least) days and I was totally going to write an awesome blog entry to celebrate. But I am soooooo tired today. Too little sleep, too many things to do for too many days, and all I want to do is go to sleep.
So, lazy post alert!
With only two days to go (have I said that already…), SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB is making its way out into the world, creeping onto bookshelves with a sneaky glance over its shoulder in case anyone is looking, and showing its dragon-y face to the passers-by. Here is the proof:
This is “Secrets” in Palm Desert Barnes and Noble (photo courtesy Rich and Kathy Burgis):
Here it is in the “Little Professor Book Center” in Alabama (photo courtesy of Sara Glassman):
And, finally, here’s “Secrets”, with its shiny star, at the ALA Midwinter conference in Boston (photo courtesy of Randi Pink):
That book next to it is Paper Wishes by my fellow debut, Lois Sepahban. It came out a few days ago, and I talked about it here.
That’s it, then, guys! The book is making its tentative, shy way out into the world. If you spot it, give it a stroke and tell it all will be all right…
Oh, and as a bonus, here’s an interview I did with Kick-Butt Kidlit.
See you tomorrow!
- Books
Six Days To Go
Today in my countdown to publication of SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB on January 12th, 2016, I am going to be very self-indulgent, because today my author copies arrived and they are absolutely beautiful! So, this post is basically just photos of them.
Here goes:
All the artwork, cover and interior, is by Jeremy Holmes. Copyright Christy Ottaviano Books.
- Books
Nine Days To Go
I’m blogging every day about writing, books, inspiration, and maybe the odd story until SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB is published on January 12, 2016!
Today I’m talking about six fantasy and science fiction books that aren’t Secrets of the Dragon Tomb and that I’m looking forward to in 2016.
Middle Grade Science Fiction
Publication date: January 5th, 2016
You don’t get a great number of pure science fiction middle grade books, but Monica Tesler proves that they can be done extremely well. This is the story a group of children bred to be “bounders”, who can leap through space and who are recruited to Earth’s expeditionary and defence force.
Generations ago, undesirable genetic traits were bred out of humanity, but now that diversity has been found to be useful, and the genetic traits have been reintroduced for this select group of children, producing a neurodiverse group who have trouble fitting in but whose talents are essential.
The book shares some of the same science fiction space as Ender’s Game and Starship Troopers, but it brings its own unique take on the training of children for war. There are mysteries, adventures, danger and a very cool world in which to play, as well as a unique take on space travel.
Goodreads | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Author Website
Middle Grade Fantasy
Publication Date: March 8th, 2016
On a stormy May day in 1929, William and Maxine arrive on the doorstep of Battersea Manor to spend the summer with a grandfather they barely remember. Soon after they settle in, Grandpa receives a cryptic telegram and promptly whisks the cousins off to New York City so that he can meet an unknown courier and collect a very important package. Before he can do so, however, Grandpa vanishes without a trace.
When the cousins stumble upon Nura, a tenacious girl from Turkey, she promises to help them track down the parcel and rescue Grandpa. But with cold-blooded gangsters and a secret society of assassins all clamoring for the same mysterious object, the children soon find themselves in a desperate struggle just to escape the city’s dark streets alive.
This book has been described as a cross between Indiana Jones and the The DaVinci Code. Exciting!
Goodreads | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Author Website
Historical Fantasy
Publication Date: April 12, 2016
The year is 1779, and Carlo Morelli, the most renowned castrato singer in Europe, has been invited as an honored guest to Eszterháza Palace. With Carlo in Prince Nikolaus Esterházy’s carriage ride a Prussian spy and one of the most notorious alchemists in the Habsburg Empire. Already at Eszterháza is Charlotte von Steinbeck, the very proper sister of Prince Nikolaus’s mistress. Charlotte has retreated to the countryside to mourn her husband’s death. Now, she must overcome the ingrained rules of her society in order to uncover the dangerous secrets lurking within the palace’s golden walls. Music, magic, and blackmail mingle in a plot to assassinate the Habsburg Emperor and Empress–a plot that can only be stopped if Carlo and Charlotte can see through the masks worn by everyone they meet.
This is an utterly unique historical fantasy. It’s incredibly lush and entirely involving, with characters you genuinely won’t forget. I found myself completely immersed in the 18th century world, full of princes, plots, and opera. Don’t miss it.
Goodreads | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Author Website
Contemporary Middle Grade Fantasy
Publication Date: February 23rd, 2016
Ever since twelve-year-old Charlie Price’s mom died, he feels like his world has been split into two parts. Before included stargazing and Mathletes and Saturday scavenger hunts with his family. After means a dad who’s completely checked out, comically bad dinners, and grief group that’s anything but helpful. It seems like losing Mom meant losing everything else he loved, too.
When he follows his sister into a magical world he finds it is identical to their own with one key difference – Mom is alive. But this idealized other world holds terrifying secrets, and he’ll have to defeat monsters both real and imagined or risk losing himself, his sister, and the true memory of his mother forever.
This is a touching, emotionally powerful middle grade contemporary fantasy.
Goodreads | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Author Website
Young Adult Science Fiction
Publication Date: February 9th, 2016
Where Futures End is a novel made up from five interconnected short stories. The first story is set right now (or very close to now) and the subsequent ones step into the future, developing the story up to some unstated point over a hundred years from now. Our universe has somehow intersected with another universe, and a very few people can cross between them, weakening the barrier between the universes.
Over the course of the five stories we experience the lives of different characters – some of whom are able to cross between universes and some of whom aren’t – as the intersection alters both universes, as technology advances, and as global warming begins to take hold.
So what’s so great about Where Futures End? Well, first up the structure is not easy to pull off. Different characters? Different time periods? Different voices? Not an easy thing to manage, and something that could go terribly wrong. Well, it doesn’t. It works beautifully, and rather than losing narrative drive, the end of each story leaves you wanting to read the next to add more pieces to the puzzle. Each adds another layer, revealing more about what was going in the previous stories while developing its own story.
Ambitious. Clever. Gripping. You should add this one to your wish-list right away!
Goodreads | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Author Website
Science Fiction
Publication Date: January 21, 2016
Trisha Sullivan is one of the most intelligent, insightful, and imaginative writers working in science fiction today. It’s an absolute delight to have a new science fiction novel from her after almost six years.
A woman with wings that exist in another dimension. A man trapped in his own body by a killer. A briefcase that is a door to hell. A conspiracy that reaches beyond our world. Breathtaking SF from a Clarke Award-winning author.
Tricia Sullivan has written an extraordinary, genre defining novel that begins with the mystery of a woman who barely knows herself and ends with a discovery that transcends space and time. On the way we follow our heroine as she attempts to track down a killer in the body of another man, and the man who has been taken over, his will trapped inside the mind of the being that has taken him over.
And at the centre of it all a briefcase that contains countless possible realities.
Note: This is published in the UK right now, but you can easily order it internationally from Amazon or Book Depository.
That’s it! There are plenty more great novels coming out in 2016, but these six look particularly appealing.
- Books
There’s a giveaway at the end of the blog entry in case you want to skip all the rest of it…
It’s exactly one month until SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB, my first novel, is published!
(Yes, you can pre-order it now: Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | See all stores)
[buy_modal page_id="108"]
I’ve been waiting for this day for a long, long time. If you’ve never actually tried to get a book published, you might not realise just how long it can take to get it out there. Here’s how it went for me.
I actually started writing the book in late 2007 and finished the first draft in May 2008.
Then, what with revising, querying agents and more revising, submission to editors and more revising, selling to wonderful editor Christy Ottaviano, and much more revising, plus publishing schedules, production, getting illustrated and designed and all of the rest of it, it will be finally published in January 2016, just over eight years after I started it.
Not all books take this long, of course, but some can take even longer.
Sometimes I get questions about how I came up with the idea for SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB, and I want to say, It was almost nine years ago! I have no idea!
The truth is, like most of what I write, it kind of condensed out of a whole cloud of ideas, images, inspirations and random chance. I can point to a whole bunch of influenced:
What I ended up with is a thrilling adventure story set on Mars in 1816, full of weird inventions, strange creatures, mummified dragons, an alien culture, and a very proper Regency British society.
The great thing about writing something like this, particularly for a Middle Grade audience, is that there’s genuinely no idea that is too outrageously out there. As long as you can make it work coherently, you can have clockwork robots, pterodactyls, dragons, and pretty much any alien creature your imagination can come up with. You can throw in heart-stopping adventures, desperate peril, and funny characters, and you don’t have to care about whether it’s proper literary or fashionably cynical. You can just make it fun! Man, I love this kind of stuff!
Enough of that, Patrick! Give us a taste!
Well, since you insist…
(Or you can just skip ahead to the giveaway!)
I was dangling from a rope, fifty feet up the side of a great pillar of red Martian rock, with my arms buried in a sopping curtain of tanglemoss and bury-beetles trying to build a hill over my head, when I finally realized I had chosen the wrong summer vacation.
My friend Matthew, Viscount Harrison’s son, had invited me to spend the summer with him. But no. I’d decided to come home instead.
What an idiot.
Right about now, Matthew’s family would be settling down for their tea or going for a quiet stroll in the warm afternoon air. In the evening, when the glitterswarms rose from the depths of the Valles Marineris to spread like a cloth of gold across the sky, they would raise a toast to King George, like any normal family on British Mars.
What they would absolutely, definitely not be doing was swaying dangerously halfway up a giant stack of rock, hunting for an angry bushbear.
This hadn’t exactly been my plan when I got up this morning.
What I had planned was to get my latest copy of Thrilling Martian Tales, lock my bedroom door, and be left alone until lunchtime. I’d finished my chores and even made a great big “Do Not Disturb” sign for my door to keep my little sister, Putty, out.
In the last issue of Thrilling Martian Tales, Captain W. A. Masters, British-Martian spy, had been left hanging by one hand from a mountain temple while the tyrant’s dragon swooped down upon him.
I’d hardly been able to sit still all month, waiting to find out what would happen in the next issue. If I had been Captain Masters, I would have waited until the dragon was almost upon me, then launched myself onto its neck, clambered onto its back, and battled the tyrant riding it. But Captain Masters always did something unexpected. Today, I would find out what.
Or I would have, if our malfunctioning ro-butler hadn’t wandered off, taking the mail with him.
I caught up with the ro-butler just in time to see him coming down the attic ladder carrying three parasols and a wig stand, but no mail. So, with a sigh, I climbed up into the horrific chaos of our attic to see where he might have put it.
I didn’t find my Thrilling Martian Tales, but what I did find was an infestation of crannybugs. The tiny creatures had snuck in during the night and built their little glass palaces under the rafters. Now they were hanging out their miniature silk flags. Soon, they would be multiplying.
I put my head into my hands and groaned.
Matthew had every issue of Thrilling Martian Tales, back to the rare issue no. 1 with the free clockwork death spinner that Captain Masters had used to destroy the Emerald Tyrant’s flying palace.
I’d never even read that issue. And there wouldn’t have been any crannybugs in Viscount Harrison’s house. If there had been, I wouldn’t have had to deal with them. Viscount Harrison’s valet would have sent out to Isaac’s Xenological Emporium for a consignment of catbirds to chase the crannybugs right back out of the attic. Or, if Isaac’s was out of catbirds, he might have sent the automatic servants up to the attic, armed with dusters and drills, to clear away the crannybugs’ palaces, and hope the creatures would leave in a huff.
But no. Here I was instead, while my family tootled about in their own little worlds, leaving it all to me.
Any normal family would do something that would actually get rid of the crannybugs, before they ate completely through the rafters and collapsed the roof down on top of us all.
Not my family.
My family is not good at that kind of thing. They wouldn’t notice the crannybugs until the house collapsed and they were sitting there in the dust and rubble, wondering what had happened.
Which left it to me to save us all from complete disaster, as always.
That was why, an hour later, Putty and I found ourselves on top of one of those pillars of rock, searching through the thick curtains of tanglemoss for the only thing — other than a catbird — that could clear out an infestation of crannybugs: a bushbear.
The bushbear is an evil-looking creature, all spikes and tongues and damp, moldy fur. It lives deep in the wet, slimy folds of tanglemoss, only peeking out at sundown with tiny, bloodshot eyes. If you can drag it into the daylight, it curls up tighter than a hedgehog and you can take it back with you to deal with the crannybugs.
Bushbears try to eat crannybugs, but that’s not what bothers the crannybugs. What they really don’t like is the bushbear’s horrible appearance and general bad temper. Put a bushbear nearby, and the crannybugs get so offended they move out.
Of course, first I had to find one, and that was turning out to be harder than I’d hoped.
From up here on the pillar of rock, I could see the whole of Papa’s estate. The house itself was a great, sprawling mess of a building on the shores of the Valles Marineris. To either side, thick stands of fern-trees whispered and chattered to each other whenever the wind blew, but in front of the house, the lawns stretched down to the water, and good English oaks lined the drive.
Right now, the lawns were being covered by stalls and trestle tables for Mama’s long-planned garden party, which was due to take place tomorrow afternoon. Ridiculous, fake native Martian hovels were being erected on the edge of the fern-trees, and workmen were arguing over the half-finished, towering dragon tomb that Mama was having built beside the water’s edge just for the party. Beside it, a steam lifter stood motionless, its enormous arms spread wide, puffing steam from its mouth into the clear sky.
The dozens of pillars of Martian rock behind the house formed a maze of gullies and dead ends. Mama had wanted them flattened so she could have a proper, carefully designed wilderness like the one on her father’s estate, but Papa wouldn’t hear of it.
Which was a good thing, because without the pillars, the blankets of tanglemoss wouldn’t grow, there would be no bushbears, and we wouldn’t be able to do a thing about the crannybugs that would soon collapse the house around our ears.
So, as I said, Putty and I were on top of a pillar of rock. Although, when I said “on top,” I meant Putty was on top, looking after the rope, while I swung halfway down with the rope around my waist, clawing through the thick moss.
I tried to imagine myself as Captain W. A. Masters, battling my way to the lair of a tyrant of Ancient Mars. Except Captain W. A. Masters would have a helichute or sharp-clawed grip-gloves and would swing easily down the precarious rock face. He certainly wouldn’t have to rely on Putty keeping him safe.
There’s something you should know about Putty. First, her name isn’t Putty. She’s my little sister, and her name is Parthenia, but “Putty” fits her far better. Putty is nine years old, three years younger than me. She is incredibly enthusiastic and as impressionable as wet putty. Show her a new idea, and she’ll throw herself into it like a diver from the top of a cliff.
A month ago, for instance, she met a photonic mechanician and spent the next few weeks poring over books about photonic capture and emission devices. Before that, she read an article by the celebrated xenologist Frank Herbert Kynes and decided to dedicate her life to the study of sandfish. She even got halfway through building a sandfish containment tank in the corner of her bedroom before she encountered the photonic mechanician. And before that… Well, you get the idea. Right now, Putty had decided she was going to be Papa. This was one of her more common obsessions. At least once a year, she turned herself into a little doppelgänger of Papa, complete with tweed jacket, disheveled hair, and eyeglasses she didn’t need, to Mama’s complete despair.
The other thing you need to know about Putty — and this one is much more important — is that she’s very easily distracted. Which might make it seem odd that I would be hanging fifty feet up in the air, suspended only by a rope that Putty was looking after. Well, it was odd. But the chances of me being able to persuade either of my older sisters, Olivia and Jane, to do anything so improper and unladylike were slightly less than zero.
Which left me with Putty, who was at least enthusiastic.
“I say, Edward.”
I shoved my way free of a fold of tanglemoss and shook the damp from my face. Putty was looking down at me.
“Are you holding that rope?” I shouted.
A guilty look crossed Putty’s face, and her head disappeared. A moment later she reappeared. “Yes,” she called.
“What is it?” I said. I dug one hand deep into the tanglemoss, just in case.
“Is that a pterodactyl, do you think?”
Keep reading chapter 1 on the Macmillan Website
Now give us something free! Please!
Okay, okay here’s a completely unique, never-to-be-repeated, extremely attractive giveaway. I’m giving away the following to one person:
Here’s a picture of the prizes:
All art in this blog post by Jeremy Holmes. Copyright Christy Ottaviano Books. Used with permission.
- Books
My lovely editor, Christy Ottaviano, sent me through the full jacket of SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB: front cover, back cover, spine, and internal flaps all in one lovely, lovely image. I think it’s absolutely awesome. I love all the little details like the airships holding up the text panels. The art is by Jeremy Holmes (who also did the internal artwork, which is just as awesome) and the cover design is by Eileen Savage. (TBH, I don’t know exactly which of them did exactly what on the cover, but clearly they are both incredibly talented!)
While we’re at it, here’s one of the interior illustrations, showing Cousin Freddie inspecting a mysterious invention, the water abacus (click on the picture to see it larger):
A week or two ago I put up an extract from the School Library Journal review of SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB, but I didn’t put it all up because it wasn’t online. Well, now it appears to be Amazon and everywhere else, so I might as well share it here:
“Twelve-year-old Edward Sullivan wishes his life on 19th-century British Mars were more like the adventures he reads about in his Thrilling Martian Tales magazine. Sadly, it’s school break and instead of being off with his friend Matthew Harrison, he’s staying home trying to keep his family on track. His father is a brilliant yet absent-minded mechanician, and his mother’s main concern is gaining back the family status she lost when her own father lost the family fortune. When dim-witted cousin Freddie literally comes crashing down, Edward wonders how much worse things can get, but before he knows it, he is tangled up in a madcap adventure with even more action than his magazines.
“It seems that Edward’s father’s latest invention, the water abacus, is thought to be the key to perhaps one of the last of the great dragon tombs of Mars. In the past, it was these tombs that held the wonderful Martian technology that enabled British Mars to thrive—and made the tomb explorers rich. There are many who want to use the water abacus for their own purposes, which leads to fights, kidnappings, attempted murder, and a great chase. All of this is set in a perfectly delightful steampunk and fantasy world complete with clockwork automatic servants, dragon paths, and spaceships. Deeper topics of race relations and colonization are deftly explored through the political unrest among the British, the French, and the Martians.
“VERDICT A smart addition for middle grade collections; be prepared to purchase planned sequels.”
And while we’re at it, here’s an extract from the ALA Booklist review:
“Engaging characters and an action-packed plot are bolstered by some meaningful observations on Martian colonialism … this will appeal to fans of zany adventure tales.”
And, in case you missed it, I’m giving away a SIGNED ARC (ADVANCE READER’S COPY) on Goodreads.
That’s all!