Ice Feathers - a new book

I'm afraid I haven't been very active on my site recently, due to life intervening, as it is wont to do. However, I now have a new book out, which should appeal to fans of THE DIVIDE. It's called ICE FEATHERS, and it's set in prehistoric Antarctica. It's available both for the Kindle and in paperback.

What would you do if you were thirteen, and your aunt wanted to marry you off to get rid of you? Kura’s no coward, so she steals her uncle’s flightless riding-bird, the vicious and unpredictable Plume, and sets off to find her real parents. This is Antarctica, ten thousand years ago, when for a short time just the coastal strip was ice-free. The fauna is similar to that of prehistoric New Zealand – all the evolutionary niches have been filled by birds, and the main predator is a giant eagle.

            Kura bumps into Joeli, who is also running away from home because he thinks he’s killed his copper-feathered tutor-parrot, the clever and self-opinionated Kohuru. Kura and Joeli have loathed one another for years, and are appalled when they suddenly realise they must have been betrothed to each other. However, their relationship develops as they face increasing dangers – the bounty-rider hired to reclaim Plume, and the megalomaniac chieftain The Varka, who wants to wipe out all copper-feathers because they’re opposed to his tyrannical rule. The world is getting colder, year on year, and The Varka’s policies aren’t helping. His reputation as a powerful and sadistic sorcerer has enabled him to get whatever he wants.

Kura’s search for her parents becomes entangled with an attempt to thwart the Varka’s plans. She risks not only her own life, but those of Joeli and Kohuru – until she discovers that The Varka’s magic is just one big confidence trick.