Woodenface (Usborne – Aug 2007) is my first children’s novel. Here’s what it says on the back cover:
"Meg could see the face of a figure lurking there, a wooden face waiting impatiently for her to give him a life."
Meg has somehow always known about the ancient power of trees and wood. She loves carving, and her little wooden figures take on a life of their own. There’s Dilly-Lal, always ready to dance; the Seeing-Eye, which lets Meg see places even though she’s not there; and then there’s Bolly-Bolly, carved from a special tree and full of magic – if he feels like co-operating.
Meg has never thought twice about her abilities, but the villagers are suspicious. When a local girl falls ill, hallucinating and crying out, her family think it’s the work of a witch, and they blame Meg. She is forced to flee for her life, but can she use her powers to confront the demons that stalk her?
This is 1650, in a small village in the Yorkshire Pennines. It’s a real place, and even today you could imagine, if you opened a door in one of the old buildings, that you’d be transported back 350 years.
I like real times and places, it helps to keep the writing ‘grounded’, and the fantasy and magic elements more convincing. I like the challenge of writing about people who really believed that a witch’s glance could make you ill, or even die; that she (or he) could shape-change into a hare or some other animal and go running around the fields. It may seem far-fetched to most of us today, but maybe some of our fears are no more rational.
Woodenface is the first of three books about Meg and her friends – and her enemies. Keep your eye on the Latest News section to find out more about the other two.
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