FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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I wanted to write a story that was both fun and exciting that I would have liked to have read when I was young and that explained importance of looking after our planet without lecturing the young reader.

I visited The Enchanted Forest light show in Faskally Wood in Pitlochry with my wife Sheila many years ago. Seeing this  spectacularly lit up forest inspired me, but it was only years later that I had the opportunity to put pen to paper. 

Isla comes from Scotland, Oliver and Lucy are from England, Alexander is from Germany, Emma comes from America, Hinata is from Japan, and Reyansh comes from India.

Climate change is affecting the whole world and I wanted to represent several countries from different continents with different cultures. This will be the same in other books in this series that I will be writing. 

Although, Queen Faskallyia looks like she could be in her late twenties or early thirties just like each of the other Forest Queens in this story, they are all as old as the individual forest they are queens of.

Known as Faskally Wood, Although the wood can be visited at any time, the award-winning sound and light show is only held during the months of October and November each year. Tickets are usually sold out fast, so I would strongly recommend booking fast if you are thinking of taking your children to see it. www.enchantedforest.org.uk/tickets/

There are plans to have six books in The Guardians Series. 

My sister Claire put us in touch with Tina Sloan who is a local Ayrshire artist from Kilmaurs who owns an art shop. We both have been delighted with her artwork. Tina is also currently working on the second book cover which is equally as good. www.tinasloanart.com

Although I have been fortunate enough to read many books in my life, Lord of the Rings written by J. R. R. Tolkien is still my favourite.

Since I was a child, my favourite film was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, written by Ian Fleming who also wrote James Bond and directed by Ken Hughes and produced by Albert R. Broccoli who also produced many of the James Bond films. This still is my favourite film today and I have watched this film countless times since the first time I saw it. I also loved it when I watched the theatre production in London with my wife Sheila. They say some men never grow up. Maybe they are right.

What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. Call me sentimental if you must. I think it has a beautiful tune with a simple message of hope for all. Please tell me other people agree with me.

I love my strategy games. Probably a throwback from learning to play chess while I was quite young. If pushed to decide, I think I would choose World of Warcraft by Blizzard Entertainment.

I think many people I know do. When I was young, I was an avid reader of comics. Although I don’t read any comics anymore, I love going to the cinema to see the Marvel and DC superhero films. My favourite amongst all of them as it was when I was young is still Batman. Probably because he had no superpowers, but he was still able to beat the bad guys and make the world a safer place.

I hope I don’t offend anyone out there, especially those who prefer cats, but as my book suggests, I prefer dogs. Unfortunately, we don’t have any as my wife was scared by a dog when she was a child and still is by them. 

As my hobby I mentioned earlier probably suggests, I love watching Gardeners World on the BBC or any other gardening program. I hope this doesn’t put any children off reading my books when they hear of this. .