The perfect pair dolphin trilogy authors launch new novella series, belinda fellgate - interview with stephen kingston of salford star online magazine

ACCLAIMED SALFORD AUTHORS LAUNCH SCARY NEW
TEENAGE NOVELLA 

Which book is out - both of them?

The first book in the Belinda Fellgate novella series is Belinda Fellgate: HellCat. Its official release date is 18th June 2020. The release is late because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

On a good note, the second book in the Belinda Fellgate series – Belinda Fellgate: The Kiss of Flauros – is written and undergoing its final edit. The artwork is complete but awaiting colour. There is a delay because our colourist is presently stuck in Spain, again thanks to Covid-19. However, we hope to have the book released within the next 6 months.

Scary kids’ stuff is a bit different from dolphins - what (literally!) possessed you to do it?

As writers, we needed a breath of fresh air, as the award-winning book series, The Perfect Pair Dolphin Trilogy, was mentally and emotionally exhausting. Remember, The Perfect Pair was a true story written under the fiction banner to avoid legal problems. It was a damning exposé that got us into a lot of trouble and is STILL being interfered with by powerful parties. For us, Belinda Fellgate was an escape and a joy to write.

For many years, Tracy wrote spooky stories for teen books and magazines – The Bunty, The Mandy and Shout. She published around 60 short stories but wrote many more which were rejected as “too scary”. Then she wrote a children’s novel called Devil Doll. An editor from Usborne Publishing liked it so much that she worked on it for some months before being headhunted by a rival company. Sadly, this meant Devil Doll was shelved.

David found the manuscript in the loft, loved it and started to add his magic – and Belinda Fellgate was born. However, David’s input meant we had to raise the reading age to Young Adult.

 Is the plan to scare the pants off poor journalists?

Quick answer! YES!

Why do teenage girls like this sort of stuff?

Not just teenage girls, but teenage boys as well. This is a book series for both sexes. It’s a form of escapism that we all need, especially now, during these sad and scary times.

The graphics are great - is that very much a part of the book?

A huge part! The demon tome, Secrets of the Shadow Realms, carries the illustrations and hints at the trials to come. The number of illustrations will increase with every adventure in the Belinda Fellgate series. Tracy believes David’s images would make great posters and can just see them finding their way onto bedroom walls throughout the country. That’s just how good the artwork is!

The book is nasty and creepy and horrid - is that a compliment??

That is indeed a compliment – it means we’ve achieved what we set out to achieve. But, as with all our work, there are hidden messages – animal welfare, bullying and abuse issues.

Anything else you want to add??

We have great hopes for this series, but – as always – it needs support. We are northern writers, born and bred in Salford, and hope that we don’t get side-lined as so many northern writers do.

Link to actual article: ​http://salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=5649