Features

A world-renowned author, everyone has heard of J.R.R. Tolkien, or at least his work - Lord of the Rings (1, 2 and 3) and The Hobbit are household titles! But how well do you really know the man behind the fame? Family history. He had a younger brother, Hilary Arthur Reuel Tolkien. He was destined to be a writer. Tolkien could read and write fluently by the age of four. In English, please? Tolkien was talented for languages, he had learnt: Danish, Dutch, Frenc...

Dal Cousans recently released his debut book, Survivor: 1851 Insurrection From New Orleans to Cuba, a biography about his ancestors. We wanted to catch up with Dal and see how life had changed since becoming a published author. Did you always dream of becoming an author? No, I didn’t think I would actually become an author. My girlfriend, Cindy, suggested I should write a book after reading the article printed about William Cousans in 1913. After reading, I wanted ever...

Time Passages, by M.J. Dermott, was published in January 2018. One of the biggest inspirations for the book was Gloucestershire Cathedral, so we decided to bring you a few facts you might not have known about this impressive architecture. Young teenagers Archie and Gus can't believe their luck when they are cast as extras in a huge film production in the Cathedral. But their dreams quickly take a sinister turn when they come face to face with infamous characters from the past, plungin...

To all of our tea-lovers out there, we bring you A Tale of Tea by John Monks, and a few facts about this yummy drink that you might not have know! There's a state of emergency as the wells run dry in the city of Doblob and nobody can have any more tea - including the king! Plok is sent on a mission to find Baldwr the Wise Wizard, as only he might have the right water spells to help. But this journey would take Plok into the Black Mountains and into the path of all manner of dangers ...

C.M. Bryden recently released her fourth book, Tale From Fairyland, in April 2018. We wanted to catch up with the author and ask her a few questions. Did you always dream of becoming an author? No. Not until after I had finished work and had time to decide what I wanted to do with my life, although I have always scribbled and made up stories for my children, but mainly for my own amusement. What was your first job? Office Junior, when I first left high s...

It's Dinosaur Day! So, to celebrate, we thought we'd feature one of our very own dinosaur books and give you a few facts that you might not have known! Charlie Daniels is more than six feet tall, allergic to almost everything, and has a pet dinosaur at home. His life in Arizona is relatively normal. That is, apart from the nightmares Charlie has... But when his dinosaur, Trike, gets kidnapped by a strange old lady and her cat-like sidekick, Charlie and his misfit friend Arty are sucked...

A.T. (Mac) McTavish recently released his new novel, After the Storm Was Over, in March 2018. We wanted to catch up with the author and find out how his life had changed since becoming a published author. Did you always dream of becoming an author? No! My career has been so varied that writing was not a priority. Mind you, I have always loved telling stories. What was your first job? Really? When I left school, I worked in a butchers shop as a 'traine...

Most book-lovers are guilty of re-reading the same books over and over again. Regardless of whether you've read that book five times or fifty times, you keep picking it up and going through it again, and we're no different. So today, we thought we would list the pros and cons of re-reading. Pros You get to over-analyse and figure out your favourite characters. You might feel that you didn't really connect with the book characters the first time round...or the second...or the t...

A.D. Burlace, author of Sea of Deception, recently released his new book in March 2018. We wanted to catch up with the new author and see how life had been treating him since he was published. Did you always dream of becoming an author? No. What was your first job? Volunteering at an animal sanctuary. How did you come about writing your book? Was that your intention or did you start writing for fun? I started writing my book as a way to e...