My latest book

Fury, my new book, will be published by Barrington Stoke on 22nd March. It's about a girl who lets the Furies of Ancient Greece escape into our world through a crack in an old pot... There's a link to it on Amazon. co.uk below. This is a stand-alone book, rather than the beginning of a series.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fury-Elizabeth-Kay/dp/1842995693/ref=sr_1_31?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195830746&sr=1-31

Best wishes for the new year

I hope 2008 is a good year for you all - I have a new book coming out in March, called Fury. It's published by Barrington Stoke, and I'll post more details closer to the time.

New writing classes I'm teaching this term - at the Leatherhead Institute, Surrey, starting at 7.30pm on 14th January - telephone 01634 298600, and at The Malden Centre, Surrey, starting at 1.00pm on 17th January, telephone 020 8336 7770.

Happy Christmas Everyone!

I would like to wish all my readers the season's greetings.

Spam, spam, spam...

Due to platefuls of spam lately, it's possible that e-mails you have sent me have been identified as Junk by my computer. In the absence of a good fire-breather mail system, please try again, and give your e-mail a heading that makes it clear you know something about one of the books. Anything that looks as though you're trying to sell me something will be dumped unread...

And then there are the deer...

When I go adder-watching, I often see roe deer. Because I'm standing so still, and keeping so quiet, they often don't see me until the last moment. They veer to one side and go bounding off as though the hounds of hell are at their heels, clearly horrified by their lapse of concentration. The best way watch creatures as timid as these is to disguise your outline, so that they don't see you as a human being. I photographed these two from behind a tree.

More snakes...

It seems that there's an interloper at Adder Mansions... This rather handsome grass snake has been basking in the late autumn sunshine, not too far away from the pile of brushwood the adders call Home. It's a bit shy about having its photograph taken, however, and doesn't hang around for long.

Lilywithers introduces herself

Hiya, kids, colts, fillies and foals!

My name's Lilywithers, and I'm taking over from Pewtermane as agony aunt. I'm a lot younger than the old master - I've only just completed my Thinking is Good for You course - but I'm raring to go. My special interests are mythical singers; unlike Fuzzy, I'm not into squawk music. I think Led Zeppelin and the Arctic Monkeys are really smooth. So let's get started.

Dear Pewtermane,
Help! I am a Japegrin and my eyes are starting to turn blue! I'm trying to find a potion to change them back; I was considering Snakeweed's potions, but I'm not sure I trust him... He's scary.

Your friend, Rainflower

Dear Rainflower,
What a cool name! Names are like, crucial. You’re dead right not to trust Snakeweed’s potions. If I were you, I’d listen to a lot of Frank Sinatra records because there's an old brittlehorn saying - like cures like. To find out Frank Sinatra’s nickname, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sinatra
and look under Background information.

Lilywithers
pp Pewtermane