Andrew Ferguson
Children's/YA Author
Archives
Spotlight: Magical Miri by Debra Kristi
Posted on August 4, 2020 Leave a Comment
There are the witches of the Quarter, and then there is the unwanted magical bloodline. The family so secret, even its youngest members are unaware. That would be mine.
“Magick runs in your bloodstream.”
Grandma always told us we came from a powerful bloodline. A bloodline derived from one of the strongest witches in New Orleans past.
Mom disagrees. Had us believing it was nothing but lies.
Wanting to get us away from grandma and her fanciful ideas, Mom moves us in with her boyfriend. Sticks us in the French Quarter. A place where my family isn’t welcome.
My new status quo: life in shambles.
Everything is changing. Mom is always working to pay the new, higher bills, my sister is experimenting with magick, and my brother, I think, maybe drugs. Forced to start at a new school and attempt to make new friends, I’m now having nightmares, seeing ghosts, getting teased as a witch, and preyed on by vampires. Plus, there’s the creepy, stalker ancestor in my head.
But to all my crazy, there’s a silver lining. I’m seeing a new, amazing guy, named Phillip… if Mom’s overbearing boyfriend doesn’t chase him away. Phillip doesn’t know about the supernatural world crashing in around me and I’d like to keep it that way. He is the calm to my chaos.
And my mom’s boyfriend, just may be the triggering cause of my surrounding storm. How do I straighten out my family and uncover my own personal truth, when the devil in the works might possibly be sleeping under the same roof?
Spotlight: Birth of a Spy by Duncan Swindells
Posted on July 28, 2020 Leave a Comment
How far would you go to protect the one you love?
Out of work Cambridge graduate Scott Hunter breaks Second World War Enigma codes. His girlfriend is desperate for him to find a job and settle down, so when a fresh code lands unexpectedly on Scott’s doorstep, he promises it will be his last, little realising that revealing the dark secrets it has protected for over fifty years will shatter their lives forever.
Birth of a Spy is the first in the Scott Hunter Series. With Cambridge and London as their backdrop, espionage and intrigue collide with action and adventure in this fast-paced thriller.
Spotlight: Shadowless by Randall McNally
Posted on July 21, 2020 Leave a Comment
What if the gods themselves wanted you dead? A young boy lies on a beach on a warm summer’s day. While trying to block the sun from his eyes Arpherius makes a shocking discovery; he has no shadow. Confused and bewildered he asks his uncle why he is shadowless. What he learns is a terrifying secret that will change his life forever. Set in the Northern Realms, Shadowless is a fantasy novel about individuals born without a shadow. Spawned by the malevolent deities of this world these children of the gods are persecuted at every turn. Hunted by the high priests who carry out the wishes of their gods, hunted by the Shadow Watchers; armed soldiers who are assigned to each temple, and hunted by the gods themselves. Part-mortal and part-god, the Shadowless live for centuries and face a battle for survival, constantly on the run or hiding in far-flung corners of the Northern Realms. Soon their lives and fates become intertwined, expedited by the mysterious monk Amrodan. Driven by a series of visions Amrodan travels through the Northern Realms, seeking out the Shadowless and trying to enlist their help to take a stand and fight back against the gods.
Spotlight: A Threat from the Past by Paul Cude
Posted on July 14, 2020 Leave a Comment
Can you be heroic and naive? For one young man, the answer is yes, despite his magical birthright. Blissfully unaware of what’s going on around him, for the most part Peter remains fully focused on blending in and keeping a low profile. But fate and plain bad luck have other designs on him. Not so bad, you might think. Until you discover the TRUTH! Just like his friends, he is a… DRAGON! Thrust into a life away from the underground dragon domain, disguised in a new, awkward human form in an effort to guide and protect humanity just like the rest of his race, all he has to do is uncover the diabolical deeds playing out around him. With the help of his two young friends, a master mantra maker and a complete dragon stranger with more than a little history attached to him, will Peter manage to thwart the dark, devious scheme long in the planning? Ever wondered how dragons use their supernatural gift to travel below ground at almost the speed of sound? Want to know how they use magical mantras to transform their giant bodies into convincing human shapes? Learn the true story of George and the Dragon, see if a prehistoric grudge turns into murderous revenge, and find out what to do if you meet a giant arachnid grinning at you when you’re wearing nothing but your smile. Lose yourself in this unputdownable fantasy adventure NOW!
Spotlight: Anachronist by Andrew Hastie
Posted on July 7, 2020 Leave a Comment
One step away from prison, 17-year-old Joshua Jones steals a WW2 medal from the house of a local eccentric, the Colonel, and finds himself transported back to Hitler’s war rooms in 1944. The Colonel recruits Josh into a mysterious order dedicated to protecting history from the forces of chaos. With the help of a beautiful librarian, Caitlin, Josh begins an epic adventure into a world of alternate histories, time guilds and the nightmarish creatures of the maelstrom. But Josh can’t escape his old life, and when a mission goes horribly wrong, he is forced to face the secrets of his broken past… and the overwhelming temptation to make a forbidden adjustment. Caught between a magical world of infinite possibilities and a life of crime, will he use his new-found powers to alter his own timeline?
Spotlight: Haze by Rebecca Crunden
Posted on June 30, 2020 2 Comments
When Eliza Owens gets a phone call in the middle of the night from a girl she’s never met, she doesn’t know what to think. The girl introduces herself as Paige, and says she used to date Erik Stern, Eliza’s fiancé. What’s more, she has something important to discuss. The only problem? Paige has been dead for years.
Believing it to be a sick prank, Eliza tries to force it from her mind until Sam, Eliza’s older sister, tells her she met Paige only a few weeks before. And, according to Sam, Paige has nothing nice to say about Erik.
The fight which follows shatters the lives of everyone involved, and Erik disappears without a trace.
Five years later, Erik returns to town after his father’s death. Old wounds quickly resurface, and with them several burning questions. None the least of which is: Who spoke to Eliza and Sam if it wasn’t Paige? And why?
Spotlight: The Gods of Frequency by Shane Johnstone
Posted on June 23, 2020 Leave a Comment
The Gods of Frequency follows the relationship of two traditional musicians living in Glasgow, one working class, without formal education, battling with the crippling self doubt and anxiety that can be observed in all working class musicians, the other privately educated. Written in flowing Glasgwegian dialect and standard English, we follow the protagonists consciousness directly and vividly as he struggles with the insecurity and jealousy of the seemingly entirely upper middle class Scottish folk scene, their £10,000 instruments, their perceived confidence, their education and their contacts. We follow his and his partners journey through a relatively successful career and nervous breakdown through alcohol abuse and denial, and reconciliation through accidental pregnancy. Our protagonist, deeply ashamed of his previously appalling behaviour and selfishness, attempts to turn it all round and go straight, til his best friends funding application is accepted. He is invited onboard the creative opportunity of a lifetime, but tension between his historically at odds musical collaborators threatens the return of the drink and anxiety as his partners birth inches closer. We strain and hope for him to hold it together through the creative process as the album is made, on which he experiences a deeply fulfilling musical experience, and follow on as his life’s purpose is reached, with the confusion and lack of direction that follows.
Spotlight: The Markings by Catherine Downen
Posted on June 16, 2020 Leave a Comment
“My frail fingers curl around the jagged rock. I press it into the stone wall and drag it up and down until a small groove forms. I drop the rock and step back, glancing over all the lines I’ve made. It is day 2,436 of being in this prison with my mother and younger brother.”
DATHER IS AN ISLAND THAT WAS ONCE KNOWN AS OHAU. A nation that rose from the ashes after an asteroid shower has divided itself when people began to discover their unique powers. At sixteen-years-old Adaline sits in prison with her mother and younger brother, and today is Parting Day where more prisoners will be executed. After seven years of being spared, Adaline’s luck has run out. But she won’t go quietly or easily. Her life depends on her ability to escape the grasps of the King and find a place of freedom. Discovering her unique powers is the turning point Adaline needs to get a second chance at her freedom. In this thrilling novel of friendship, family, and secrets Adaline runs for her life and learns the truth of her past along the way.
My brain sees him as a threat, as the enemy, a guard at the castle, but my heart feels he is a friend. The question is, which one is right?”
Spotlight: Garbageman by Erik Dean
Posted on June 9, 2020 Leave a Comment
A night that starts out as the best night of David’s life goes terribly wrong. He and his fiancé, Julie, wander into Banger territory while trying to help a wounded man. David ends up shot in the head and his girlfriend, kidnapped.
Fighting for his life, David is rushed to the hospital where a brilliant neurologist uses a daring new treatment to save him. He survives, but he doesn’t remember a thing… not who he is or where he comes from, or that his girlfriend is in terrible danger.
The gang is not about to let a witness to their crimes wander around. A reward is given for his capture, dead or alive.
David doesn’t fully understand the circumstances he’s in. When the Bangers set up an ambush, he barely escapes into an alley. Just when he’s about to get shot for a second time, a strange, vagrant-like creature covered in trash comes to his rescue…
What is it and why is it helping David?
Spotlight: Daisy, Bold & Beautiful by Ellie Collins
Posted on June 2, 2020 Leave a Comment
D.J. and her dad moved far from the small town and only home she ever knew. Now she’s starting middle school in the city with kids she’s never met. She tries to make friends, but they all appear to be slaves to screen time. D.J. just likes to garden, nurturing plants, watching them grow and thrive. It seems she’ll never find a way to fit in, but then she awakens in a gorgeous garden where she meets Persephone, Goddess of Spring. She must be dreaming; her new friend can’t possibly be real—and what could she know about getting along with gamers? D.J. really needs some ideas, or she might never find her own place in a complicated world.
Andrew Ferguson 