I live in Essex with my son, Jack, partner Neil and cats Marmite My first children's novel, THE 13 TREASURES, won the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize and was followed by two sequels: THE 13 CURSES and THE 13 SECRETS, and a prequel, ONE WISH.

Prior to that, I worked in bars, a bakery, and a second-hand record shop to make ends meet while trying to get my first book deal. Before becoming a full-time writer I worked in publishing as an editor, and also as a bookseller.

My latest novel is A STORM OF SISTERS, the fourth in the best-selling PINCH OF MAGIC ADVENTURES. I've also written UNREST, a ghost story for young adult readers, THE OTHER ALICE, which won the Calderdale Book of the Year Award and the MIDNIGHT MAGIC series for younger readers. Its behavior is semi-sentient and it's known that Dark Water is following the orders of the Dark Dweller - its master and creator.My first children's novel, THE 13 TREASURES, won the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize and was followed by two sequels: THE 13 CURSES and THE 13 SECRETS, and a prequel, ONE WISH. Appearance ĭark water is a black, thick partialy sentient ooze. The vastness of all that is evil had taken a form. Then, slowly, there were more and more sightings of the Dark Water, always moving, consuming and leaving nothing but loss and despair in its powerful wake. In the early years there were wild tales of a capricious, driving shape that moved across the watery planet, devouring anything unlucky enough to land in its path. This substance oozed slowly, perversely, from the fissure where the Treasures were ripped from the bowels of the planet. The crippling, which at first appeared only spiritually and emotionally, soon took living form in the substance which has become known as Dark Water.

From that day forward, the planet headed on a course of slow, degenerative destruction. They were scattered far and wide in a furious storm of upheaval.

Then, one day, years ago, the mystical stones were pried loose by a violent and unknown power. The Treasures, imbedded in a reef far below the sea beneath Octopon itself, have emanated a collective power, nourishing the entire planet with a harmonious life-force. From the beginning of time, the Thirteen Treasures of Rule have sealed the heart of our planet.

The thirteen treasures series