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.
In this exciting Middle Grade adventure set in Egypt, a 5000-year-old mystery comes to life. 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. Dr. Khalid wants the relic at all costs. 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. They learn more about the ancient Seven Stones of Power and the mysterious Shemsu-Hor. They must translate the hieroglyphic clues on the underside of the scarab, as well as rescue the missing archaeologist James Kinnaird, and their friend, the Egyptologist Ebrahim Faza, before time runs out!
Snippet:
Dr. Khalid leaped into the shadowy chamber, dragging Adam. Then he tripped, pulling Adam down as he fell. They crashed into each other, landing in a heap. The flashlight rolled across the floor. The crystal walls caught and magnified the beam, setting the huge chamber ablaze with light. Aziz yanked Laila into the chamber and threw her face down onto the floor. Then he ran back to fetch the lamp he had left on the last stepping-stone. Adam looked up. Just inside the doors stood two colossal statues that seemed to be striding forward. They each had the body of a man and the head of an ibis, with glittering eyes and fierce, curved beaks. They held raised spears, as if ready to stab any intruder. Adam gasped. They were more terrifying than the ones in his dream. The lamplight shone on the carved faces and threw eerie shadows against the wall behind the figures, making them appear bigger than they were.
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