Author Interview – Fiona Ingram

Who would you invite to your dinner party? Terry Pratchett and Stephen Fry. Terry Pratchett is the British author of the zany Discworld series. I find his books hilarious, but so pertinent to life. He exposes the foibles and weaknesses of humans, and strips almost everything bare: from politics to philosophy to relationships. I could chat to him for hours. Stephen Fry is a British actor and author. I first saw him play Jeeves, the butler, in the televised version of P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves & Wooster series. He is hilariously funny, and highly intelligent. He now writes and has his own television series. I could listen to him for hours.

What’s your next project? My first book started out as a short story for my nephews, turned into a book – The Secret of the Sacred Scarab – and then into a book series. I am getting the second book – The Search for the Stone of Excalibur – ready for publication so I am swamped with cover, interior graphics, website text and images, and planning the next launch. As well as that, I am finishing off Book Three – The Temple of the Crystal Timekeeper.

When did your first know you could be a writer? It began when I would write little plays for my four brothers and me to act out for my long-suffering parents. We had a wonderful book of children’s stories called The Treasure Casket (which I still have), so there was no shortage of themes. I had a great and eager cast; we would make the invitations and costumes, prepare a meal for our audience of two (my parents had to buy all the ingredients for the meal and pay for the show as well!) and then act out the play.

Then I began writing amusing poetry about family events and family members. I would also illustrate these poems. I still have every single one of my poems. Gradually I drifted into writing, and then jumped from the theater into editing, and then full-time writing.

What is your greatest strength as a writer? I think it is never getting writer’s block. My mom used to ask me about this and I would always reply, “Oh, I’ll think of something.” I always do. Reviewers most often comment on my descriptions of places and characters in my book/s. I rely on my imagination to get my characters into and out of situations, and to sometimes take the lead. Right now I am thinking about my fourth book in my middle grade adventure series. I have the title, the ideas, and what I want my heroes to achieve – I just need to put it all together.

A 5000-year-old mystery comes to life when a scruffy peddler gives Adam and Justin Sinclair an old Egyptian scarab on their very first day in Egypt. Only when the evil Dr. Faisal Khalid shows a particular interest in the cousins and their scarab, do the boys realise they are in terrible danger. Dr. Khalid wants the relic at all costs.

Justin and Adam embark upon the adventure of a lifetime, taking them down the Nile and across the harsh desert in their search for the legendary tomb of the Scarab King, an ancient Egyptian ruler. They are plunged into a whirlpool of hazardous and mysterious events when Dr. Khalid kidnaps them. They survive terrifying dangers in a hostile environment (such as a giant cobra and sinking sand), pursued by enemies in their quest to solve the secret of the sacred scarab. They must translate the hieroglyphic clues on the underside of the scarab, as well as rescue the missing archaeologist James Kinnaird, and their friend, the Egyptologist Ebrahim Faza, before time runs out. They must also learn more about the ancient Seven Stones of Power and the mysterious Shemsu-Hor.

With just their wits, courage, and each other, the boys manage to survive … only to find that the end of one journey is the beginning of another!

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Genre – Juvenile Fiction

Rating – G

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