One of the things I love most about this space is how it connects us with a variety of voices, each bringing their own perspective, stories, and inspiration to our community. Having guests join us here is like opening the door for old and new friends to get acquainted.
Please give a warm welcome to UK award winning author, Esther Chilton.
I’m delighted to be over at Ann’s blog today. Ann invited me over to share how the first month since the launch of my first children’s book, The Secret Dragon, has gone. I have to say it’s exceeded all expectations. It’s not easy to get a children’s book out and for people to know about it – after all, the 5-7 year olds are my primary target, so how do you get them buying it? Well, it’s thanks to you helpful bloggers that the word has got out. I’ve had grandparents, parents, great-aunts and great-uncles and many more buying it for the little ones in their families.
But I’ve also been completely overwhelmed by the adults who have simply bought it for themselves – and enjoyed it! In fact, I’ve had a positive response, including some great reviews, from everyone who has read it, young or old. So thank you to everyone who has bought it. For those of you who don’t know about it, and would like to know more, here are a few details:
When Saffy discovers a dragon statue at the bottom of her garden, her boring summer holiday becomes full of excitement.
The statue is a real dragon called Lily. She’s from the magical world of Mandoreum, a place that’s in danger and in need of Saffy’s help.
There are clues to solve, a wicked witch to battle and secrets to be kept at all costs. Will Saffy be able to save Mandoreum before it’s too late?
Extract from the pages of The Secret Dragon
Saffy walked over to the bench and sank down onto the seat.
“Ow!” she cried, jumping up immediately. She had sat on something sharp. She turned round and looked down.
It was a statue of a dragon. Though it wasn’t a very pretty dragon, if dragons could ever be called pretty. Most of the dragons she had seen in books and films were ugly, fierce, fire-breathing monsters.
This one had bald patches all over its skin and scales hanging down. There were fluffy cotton wool balls where claws should have been and a silly little stump of a tail instead of a long one.
The dragon didn’t appear to have any teeth and its wings were broken. Saffy was sure it wouldn’t be very good at breathing fire, either. In fact, the dragon looked very sorry for itself indeed and not even the tiniest bit fierce.
She wondered who it belonged to. Perhaps someone hadn’t wanted it any more and had thrown it over the fence. No one would want a statue like that.
Saffy gasped. A tear was rolling down the dragon’s cheek. Something very strange was going on.
She thought about running back indoors. It was going to start raining again soon anyway. But something was forcing her forward. Unable to stop herself, her hand reached out and she clasped the statue.
A cackle filled the air, followed by a howl of anguish. Thunder clashed overhead and a flash of lightning lit the sky, sending down a shower of sparkling stars. One by one they fell on the statue.
“I’m sorry about that,” the statue said, “but I had to get you to pick me up. Well, that’s it. The last little bit of Mandoreum’s magic has gone. Did you hear Narla? That was her cackling. Awful, wasn’t it?”
It began to swell, growing bigger and bigger and bigger. Saffy dropped it and scrambled to get out the way. Too late – splash! Over she went, right into the middle of a murky, muddy puddle.
Saffy looked up at the statue – at its huge, cotton wool feet, up to its mighty scales dangling down and up into its face and row of red gums, which were looming closer and closer as the dragon bent towards her.
Suddenly, the dragon looked very fierce indeed.
Esther has been a freelance writer for over twenty years, regularly writing articles and short stories for magazines and newspapers such as Writers’ Forum, Writing Magazine, The Guardian, Best of British, The Cat, This England, Yours and The People’s Friend.
Winner of several competitions, including those run by Writing Magazine and The Global Short Story Contest, she has also had the privilege of judging writing competitions and relished being given the role of head judge of the Writers’ Forum monthly short story competition.
Esther loves writing but equally enjoys helping others, which she achieves in her role as a tutor for The Writers Bureau. She also runs their monthly writing club, Let’s Write.
She has had two how-to books on writing published as well as two collections of short stories.
Her first children’s book came out in July, where she writes under the name of Esther Moonstomp.
Connect with Esther on her Blog
Purchase a Paperback or Ebook copy of The Secret Dragon on Amazon.
Purchase a signed copy of The Secret Dragon, contact Esther at: estherchilton@gmail.com
Leave a Reply