Features

Everyone has a bucket list - the classic 'things to do before you die', like visit the Eiffel Tower, climb Everest or stand at the top of the Niagra Falls. But what about a fictional bucket list? If you could visit any world and go anywhere with any fictional character, what would you do? Well, here are the twenty items on our fictional bucket list! Play Quidditch with the Weasley’s Let's be honest, who wouldn't want to play Quidditch with the Weasley's? With Fred and George acting ...

A beloved children's writer, Dr. Seuss is an author that we all grew up with. But do you really know him as well as you think you do? These facts might just surprise you. He wasn't a real doctor. You might have already known this but good old Dr. Seuss wasn't actually a doctor of anything and he only received an honourary doctorate in 1956. He actually added the title because he not only felt that it would help to improve his standing with his books, but also because his father had al...

Patrick Moffett released his debut novel, Inside Out, in March 2018. We wanted to sit down with the author and find out how his life had changed since becoming a published author. Did you always dream of becoming an author? I’m told everyone has a book in them. I don’t remember exactly when I first seriously decided to try and write a book, about 30 years ago - I think I was about 40. I really wanted to build a story that would turn into a movie – one of my main h...

Last week, we brought you '10 Book Facts to Blow Your Mind'. Now, we present you with: 10 Facts You Never Knew About Your Favourite Authors! 1. Roald Dahl Roald Dahl, a guy who wrote about chocolate factories and witches actually worked as a spy during World War II. 2. John Grisham John Grisham was working in the Mississippi House of Representatives when his first attempt at a novel was rejected 28 times before someone finally decided to publish it. 3. Alexandre Du...

Natalia Sheppard recently released her debut novel, The Little White House. But it's not her only claim to fame! So we wanted to sit down and have a chat with the author about her life now and how things have changed since she became a published author. Did you always dream of becoming an author? Since I was a child, I have always had a real passion for words and writing - particularly descriptive writing. I was enamoured by the short stories of New Zealand authors, Wit...

What makes a book? The opening paragraph? The characters? The plot? In truth, they all work together to create a good narrative but the final line of the book is just as important; how the author leaves us is just as vital as how they greet us. So, without further ado, we give you: our favourite closing lines in books. The Life of Pi, by Yann Martel "Very few castaways can claim to have survived so long at sea as Mr. Patel, and none in the company of an adult Bengal tiger." Th...

Maria Forbes published her debut fiction novel, Slaves of the Third Millennium, earlier this year. We wanted to catch up with the author and find out what she had been up to since becoming an established author. Did you always dream of becoming an author? I always dreamt of becoming an author ‘one day’. As a young girl, I was sent to boarding school at the age of five and was always making up stories about magical ways of returning home. In my twenties, I became se...

Here are 10 interesting book facts that will blow your mind! 1. The earliest known work of literature is an epic poem titled the 'Epic of Gilgamesh', from Ancient Mesopotamia. Because paper books did not exist at the time, the whole tale is told on 12 tablets.  2. It's estimated that 755,755 new books are published every year. As of mid-2017, there were an estimated 134,399,411 total published books in the world! That's a lot of books! 3. The world’s largest book...

M.J. Dermott, author of Time Passages, published her debut novel in January 2018. We wanted to catch up with her and find out how life had been treating her since the release. Did you always dream of becoming an author? I’ve dreamed of becoming an author since the age of ten or eleven, when I received a 'Highly Commended' certificate for a story that I entered into ‘The Telegraph Children’s Writing Competition’. I was so proud of that certificate – its inspira...