Hi there,

Throughout my life, I have been a keen writer and lover of Science Fiction. Raised on a diet of Star Wars, Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, I have always loved novels and films based in the claustrophobic confines of spaceships, submarines and even jury rooms.  I love the idea of groups of people secluded in a small environment, struggling to co-exist.  At school, I was forever conjuring stories, mainly based in space.  One school report comments on my fondness for “spaceworkers and aliens of varying hues.”

For 14 years, I have been a teacher, mainly in Year 6, and am now a Deputy Head. I balance this with being a husband and the father of a young son.  I have fought for years with the self-defeating philosophy that I simply did not have the time required to dedicate myself to writing.  Increased responsibilities, however, have proved to me that whatever I want to accomplish needs only a sense of confident willingness on my part.  Therefore, when I had the idea for The Ardenna Crossing, I realised that if I really wanted to have a sense of creative fulfilment, I would just have to cease my procrastination and make it happen.  Over the past year or two, I have seized every opportunity to commit my ideas to paper and this has given me all those feelings of worth that I so craved.  Writing, however is only the beginning.  I want my ideas to be shared and enjoyed by others; to take the step of putting my story out there amongst all the others that I have loved over the years.

My rationale for publication of this book would be to provide an entertaining, impactful story about the development of young people into adults that would play out over several books, its audience growing up with the characters much in the same way that Harry Potter’s legion of fans did.

The Ardenna Crossing is the first book in a series – it tells the tale of Paul Armstrong, a seemingly unremarkable 11-year-old from Greater London who is selected from his school for a scholarship to a special residential centre in another part of the country. Living with his father, both still coming to terms with the loss of Paul’s mother two years ago, he accepts this challenge.  He forms part of a group of children from all over the world who are all brought together and board a coach which will take them to their new school with the promise of a great future.

Paul, with the help of others including Temperance Finch (a straight-talking Texan) and Ashana Kaur (a mysterious Indian girl who hides deadly talents), discovers that their destination is somewhere quite different and that even this is a mere stepping stone on a much larger journey.

I see the Market readership of The Ardenna Crossing being ages 10 and upwards.  The core market is Young Adult, but the story has plenty to interest adults as well, much in the same way as stories such as Harry Potter and The Hunger Games.

Hope you enjoy,

Richard

COMING SUMMER 2018