I am a children’s author, but up until a few years ago, I was a journalist and editor. Something rather unexpected sparked my new career as an author—a family trip to Egypt with my mother and two young nephews. We had a great time and I thought I’d write them a short story as a different kind of souvenir…. Well, one book and a planned book series later, I had changed careers. I have now published Book 3 (The Temple of the Crystal Timekeeper) in my MG adventure series Chronicles of the Stone, with many awards for the first book, The Secret of the Sacred Scarab, and a few for Book 2, The Search for the Stone of Excalibur, and one already for Book 3! I also teach online novel writing for aspiring authors and I find that very satisfying. Relaxation time finds me enjoying something creative or artistic, music, books, theatre or ballet. I love doing research for my book series. I love animals and have written two animal rescue stories. I have two adorable (naughty) little dogs called Chloe and Pumpkin, and a beautiful black cat called Bertie.
A
5000-year-old mystery comes to life when a scruffy peddler gives Adam and
Justin Sinclair an old Egyptian scarab on their very first day in Egypt. Only
when the evil Dr. Faisal Khalid shows a particular interest in the cousins and
their scarab, do the boys realise they are in terrible danger. Justin and Adam embark upon the adventure of a lifetime, taking them down the Nile and across the harsh desert in their search for the legendary tomb of the Scarab King, an ancient Egyptian ruler. They are plunged into a whirlpool of hazardous and mysterious events when Dr. Khalid kidnaps them. With just their wits, courage, and each other, the boys manage to survive … only to find that the end of one journey is the beginning of another!
This is a must-read for Middle Graders keen on action, adventure, and
Arthurian stories!
Cousins Adam and Justin Sinclair are
hot on the trail of the second Stone of Power, one of seven ancient stones lost
centuries ago. This stone might be embedded in the hilt of a newly discovered
sword that archeologists believe belonged to King Arthur: Excalibur.
However,
their long-standing enemy, Dr. Khalid, is following them as they travel to
Scotland to investigate an old castle. Little do they know there is another
deadly force, the Eaters of Poison, who have their own mission to complete.
Time is running out as the confluence of the planets draws closer. Can Justin
and Adam find the second Stone of Power and survive?
A plane
crash! Lost in the Mexican jungle! Will Adam, Justin, and Kim survive long
enough to find the Third Stone of Power?
With
only a young boy, Tukum, as their guide, the kids make their way through the
dense and dangerous jungle to find the lost city of stone gods, where the Stone
of Power might be located. River rafting on a crocodile-infested river and
evading predators are just part of this hazardous task.
Of
course, their old adversary Dr. Khalid is close behind as the kids press on.
But he is not the worst of their problems. This time Adam will clash with a terrible
enemy who adopts the persona of an evil Aztec god, Tezcatlipoca, and is keen to
revive the ancient tradition of human sacrifice. Will they emerge
alive from the jungle? Will Dr. Khalid find the third Stone of Power before
they do?
Snippet From Book 2:
He heard a faint howling
noise in the distance. Wolves? Adam froze with fear. He desperately tried to
remember whether there had still been wolves in England during the Dark Ages.
There must have been because there was no other sound quite like the howl of a
wolf. The hairs on his arms rose as he heard the howl again. Although he
pinched himself to wake up, it was no good; he remained in the dream. At the
sound of distant hoof beats, he almost ducked behind a large tree trunk. There
was no time to hide because suddenly the drumming hooves were all around him.
Then came the faint melancholy wail of a battle horn, and the tinny sound of
chinking metal. He could hear the crisp snap-snap
of fluttering pennants, and when he turned, he glimpsed banners waving among
the trees. The surge of spectral riders halted and one man, seated on a white
horse, appeared at the head of the cavalcade.
The eerie figure came
closer, the horse lifting its feet carefully, clip-clopping right up to the
trembling boy. The horse was huge, its trappings gleaming with pinpoints of
metal rosettes, its long tail and mane hanging like ghostly cobwebs in the pale
moonlight. The beast snorted and stamped restlessly. Adam saw the burnished
glint of a helmet with a dragon-shaped crest topped by a red plume. Although
the cheek pieces of the helmet obscured the man’s features, the shadowy figure
was looking right at him. A red cloak swirled around the warrior’s body and, as
the fabric swung aside, Adam saw the gleam of chain mail and the dark shape of
a breastplate on the man’s chest. The warrior’s armor seemed more Roman than he
expected. A banner flapped from the spear of a man behind the warrior: a red
dragon on a white background. The warrior raised one arm, and a roar erupted as
the sounds of cheering burst from what seemed to be thousands of throats.
Although Adam heard strange words in another language, somehow, he understood
what the voices said.
