‘BLACKWOOD’

WHAT IF THE FOLKLORE OF OLD WAS BASED IN TRUTH? AND WHAT IF JUST ONE GIRL WAS CHARGED WITH THE TASK OF DESTROYING IT ALL?

Adventure, swordfights, love, loss, faeries, battles… and magic. All in one book.
A fairytale suitable for ages 10 – 100.

Christina opens the wooden chest of her dead stepmother to discover she has inherited the secret task of the ancient Ostergaard family: To rid the entire world of faeries.

The only problem is, as far as she knows, faeries do not exist.

Meanwhile, less than a mile away in the village of Blackwood, three friends are discovering just how very much faeries do exist. And just how dangerous they really are.

Christina is thrown into a violent, supernatural world of faerie killing, but it is only with the help of the three friends that she can hope to come out of the battle alive.

This story is a collaboration with Dr. Melchior Williams, who discovered a treasure trove of intriguing manuscripts from medieval Blackwood hidden away in the depths of the British Museum – documents which seem to suggest the existence and destruction of the mythological creatures so ingrained in the medieval world. He provided the facts and I provided the fiction. We both hope you enjoy the result!

(YA Historical Fantasy for 10 years+ Word Count: 90,000)

PUBLISHED November 5th, 2017

Amazon.co.uk

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Read a passage from Blackwood

The Story Behind the Book

A Few Comments

Article by Journalist, Hilarie Stelfox

“I was hooked from the first few pages – and mightily relieved to discover that it is extraordinarily well written by someone with a finely-tuned sense of humour. In fact, it’s every bit as good as any fiction for the young I’ve read in recent years, including the novels of JK Rowling and Eoin Colfer.

As well as being a natural storyteller, Jo never patronises her readers, an attribute that will endear her to teenagers. Nor does she shy away from the odd bit of violence and unpleasantness, another plus for young readers.”

Anna Marshall

I thought that the book was absolutely fabulous! I could not find a single fault in the whole thing, Jo has the talent of capturing the reader from word one, and I could barely put it down. Beautifully written, a book that will stay with you forever.

Helen McNallen

Even by page 2 of The Blackwood Crusade I’m thinking ‘oh no’ and ‘don’t do that!’ I lost count how many times I said out loud ‘oh no!’ I’m a scaredy cat but the clever wit and humour of the author makes the suspense and events bearable and exciting. ‘Curses!’ Is now my new word. To use the authors words ‘a very good way to curse without cursing’. I love the expansions in to the characters like of why Otto clutches on to his amulet round is neck when he’s ‘wary’. I love how the author expands on events and characters so we get to love and understand them even more. I usually have a favourite character in a book but it’s hard not to love all of the characters even the hardier souls. I also felt healed with some welcome reminders in the book like “However long you have known a person, they still have it in their power to surprise you” and ‘Do not wish your life away’ and I loved the answer Hannah gave to Silas and Mab when they are asking “How can we ever repay you”. She replied “You can’t. But I will be paid in kind by others, and so the world keeps turning”. I really did get in to bed under the bed covers with my hot milk at chapter 14 when the author recommends it and can recommend that too! Brilliant, brilliant book. I know you’ll love it! It’s a book for all ages. Very clever as I’m 50 and love it and my nephew who’s 13 loved it. ENJOY!