Here's a quick interview with author Elain Ouston. She lives in beautiful Australia, which I miss dearly. T.
Elaine Ouston’s
fantasy novel, Captured – the second
book in The Mystery of Nida Valley series,
a tale of magic, time-travel, and adventure, for readers aged 9 + has just been
released. The series is about a hidden valley full of ancient animals,
dinosaurs, and much more.
The story
began in book one when fourteen-year-old Meg Sealy, her friend Amanda, and her
older cousin Jaiden, stumbled upon a secret valley where time stands still. The
three friends were thrust into a dangerous world of magic, time travel, and
creatures they believed extinct. They learnt that it is their destiny to use
their new magic skills to join the fight to save the valley from an evil
breakaway order bent on exploitation. Joined by their friends and the valley's
protectors, Keeper Philmore and his grandson Michael, they faced danger from
many sources - including a dragon attack and fighting off the evil Grundymere,
the leader of the breakaway group, and his henchmen.
Meg
discovered she had the ability to use the Time Travel Portal that only one of
her family every hundred years can use. Her first journey was a life-saving
mission for the last surviving giant wombat - but even that was not without
danger.
In book two, the story continues with more
mystery, time-travel, and magic. Meg strives to control her escalating magic
powers, and she and her friends fight to discover the identity of the traitor
in the valley. Grundymere is still at large and seems determined to capture
Meg. The elders of the Order believe it is to stop her from following in her
grandmother's footsteps and becoming the next Grand Leader of the order that
protects the valley, The Guardians of Nida – but he has a much more sinister
reason.
The elders of the Order gather around her to
keep Meg from the clutches of Grundymere without success. Then Meg and her
fellow guardians, time-travel again to try save the animals from extinction,
but will the changes they make in the past harm or help the future of the
valley. They won’t know the answer to this until they return.
About the writing of this series:
I am often asked how a book about
real animals that existed over 40,000 years ago, and dinosaurs became the basis
for a fantasy novel. I came across the megafauna when I was researching animals
for another book. They fascinated me, as I had never learnt about them at
school.
I asked a group of children
what they knew about these creatures and discovered that they had no knowledge
of them. Their interest in hearing about the animals, fueled my desire to write
the story, and so I began in earnest. Some of the questions the children asked
during our discussion shaped the story. For instance, ‘Did they live with the
dinosaurs?’ and from a very cute 4 year-old, ‘Were there dragons too?’ So I decided to
include the three groups, megafauna, dinosaurs, and mythical animals. It is a
strange mix and it was interesting coming up with a way to make the valley’s creatures
credible. (Well, as credible as fantasy has to be). Fantasy has
always been my first choice to read so it was natural for me to write in that
genre.
I wanted the book to be entertaining
as well educational. So I trawled the internet and libraries for accurate
information. I found what I needed in books, and Museums and University
websites. I have recorded the sources on the inside page of the book
and on the cards. So any reader can do follow-up research, or any librarian or
teacher can confirm the information.
I realised as I wrote the story, that even though I described the animals
in as much details as I could, the readers would still have no idea what these
magnificent creatures looked like. To include colour drawings in the book would
make the printing too costly, so I decided the create collector cards. I
commissioned an artist, Aaron Pocock, to draw the animals from images I found on museum websites and in a book, The Magafauna of Australia,
by Danielle Clode.
I was lucky enough to receive great reviews for the first book in the
series and the reviews for the second book, Captured, have been just as good.
You can read them on the books website http://themysteryofnidavalley.wordpress.com
All over the world, printed
copies and eBooks of both books can be purchased from most online stores,
including Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0084FAGSE and The Book Depository. In Australia, they
can be ordered from your local bookstore through Dennis Jones and Associates.
They are distributing the book Australia wide. A signed paperback is available
from http://morrispublishingaustralia.com with payment through PayPal.
The story
began in book one when fourteen-year-old Meg Sealy, her friend Amanda, and her
older cousin Jaiden, stumbled upon a secret valley where time stands still. The
three friends were thrust into a dangerous world of magic, time travel, and
creatures they believed extinct. They learnt that it is their destiny to use
their new magic skills to join the fight to save the valley from an evil
breakaway order bent on exploitation. Joined by their friends and the valley's
protectors, Keeper Philmore and his grandson Michael, they faced danger from
many sources - including a dragon attack and fighting off the evil Grundymere,
the leader of the breakaway group, and his henchmen. 
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