This week it’s publication day of Starfell: Willow Moss and the Vanished Kingdom!

To celebrate I will be giving away a signed bookplate or postcard or a bookmark (one only) to those who have pre-ordered book three out on 4 March 2021 (UK ONLY!) just send me an email using the Contact form. Once you have done so, I will reply letting you know if I have stock or not, and you can upload proof of purchase as well as let me know the address you’d like me to send it to.

From there if you have ordered say a signed copy from Waterstones I will then send you a signed postcard with Sarah Warburton’s gorgeous artwork or if you have an unsigned copy from say your local Indie or Amazon I’ll send you a bookplate, which you can put in the book ( feel free to let me know which you’d prefer though, stock depending again). I can also address it to whoever you’d like. Stocks depending I’ll send a bookmark too! This offer will not be open to those who have ordered from Goldsboro, sorry, I just have a limited stock, and also the Goldsboro ones will have a special print anyway)

I’ll be running this pre-order offer from 1-4 March 2021 only or until stocks last! UK ONLY! If I do run out quickly and you don’t get something please know I am so grateful to you for pre-ordering, especially during a pandemic! Also I can put your name on a list for the next one if you like! 🙂

Here is a sneak peek of the incredible ‘secret print’ on the hardcover, beautifully illustrated by the incredible Sarah Warburon. This will be underneath the jacket! It features Willow’s new friends: An elf-girl named Twist and a boy called Peg. Together they will need to find the vanished kingdom in order to protect the children of Starfell …

For the very first time, magical children like Willow are allowed to go to school alongside their non-magical neighbours. But Willow is suspicious. She knows the Brothers of Wol are up to no good, so why are they changing the rules all of a sudden?

On her first day, Willow meets an elf girl named Twist, and soon they are embarking on Willow’s most urgent mission yet: to protect the children of Starfell, uncover the mystery of a long-lost kingdom – and prevent the very source of magic from getting into the wrong hands . . .

OUT ON 4 MARCH 2021 IN THE UK

Available to BUY here:

Waterstones ( special signed bookplate edition!)

Goldsboro (exclusive orange sprayed-edge edition plus art print!)

Amazon

Hive

Bookshop.org

***** Exclusive offer to website visitors only – if you pre-order now, send me a copy of your receipt via the Contact form, and I will post you a signed postcard or bookplate, let me know which you prefer (bookplate – this goes into the book and has my signature – or a postcard, which has an art print and I will address to you, you might like one or the other, not both, sorry – depending on which copy you have ordered above, so let me know). Once I have confirmed that I am able to send you one (stocks may run out) I’ll ask you to include your address. (Offer until 4 March and until stocks last – while I’d like to do as many as possible there is a high chance that I will run out quickly.) *****

Illustrations by Sarah Warburton

In Starfell: Willow Moss and the Forgotten Tale we meet the wizard, Holloway. Who sails the Great Melee and owns a bathtub-boat called The Sudsfarer. He has learnt to make food almost seemingly from air – stuck as he is sometimes for ages out at sea. When he makes food he uses whatever he has at hand. Including rain water for flavour!

Using your own store-cupboards, why not have a go at making your own rain biscuits?

I am over the moon that Starfell has been longlisted for the Branford Boase Award! It is one of the only awards that recognises the author and editor, and mine – Harriet Wilson – is an actual genius. As well as a genuinely kind, warm and brilliant human being, so this makes it doubly special.

I never expected this, as there are just so many amazing books being published! So when I found out I was bit overwhelmed to say the least. All I can say is a huge huge thank you to the Branford Boase organisers – it is an absolute honour.

Huge congratulations to the other nominees who have written books I have absolutely loved this past year – I’m beyond proud to be considered next to you!

GADZOOKS!

STARFELL: Willow Moss and the Lost Day is out in the USA and Canada today! I just want to say a BIG thank you to my lovely publishers Harper Kids (Harpercollins US) for publishing it! And a MASSIVE thank you to anyone who goes out and buys a copy! I really hope you like it!

The US cover is different to the UK and commonwealth one, with Willow and Oswin looking a bit more fierce, grin! The cover illustration was done by the wonderful Yaoyao Ma Van As. Here it is below! I think the colours are lovely too.

The ordinary becomes extraordinary in this sparkling first book in the Starfell series, a modern classic perfect for fans of Nevermoor and The Land of Stories. 

Willow Moss’s small magic has always seemed unremarkable. But when the most feared witch in the land of Starfell appears on the Moss family’s doorstep looking for help, it’s not Willow’s talented sisters she seeks, it’s Willow. Because Willow is a finder of lost things—and Moreg Vaine says that last Tuesday has gone missing.

Willow and Moreg set out on a perilous journey across the wilds of Starfell, looking for what they’ve lost. If they don’t discover what happened to the missing day, the repercussions could be devastating for the entire kingdom.

“With whimsy, humor, danger, and surprising twists, Valente’s new series will be a surefire hit, leaving readers clamoring for the next in the series .” 

– School Library Journal

“Valente’s cozy worldbuilding and familiar characterizations make for a sweet, comfortable read. What a difference a day makes in this intriguing fantasy.” 

– Kirkus Reviews

“Valente’s witty, glowing prose infuses the tale with both intrigue and warmth.” 

– Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Get your copy here 🙂

It looks like this. This new blog. Which rose like a turkey out of the ashes of the old turkey which was the old blog. Which was mostly, looking back, an epic waste of space. With a fair bit of moaning. So yes. Voila, full of new gobbledegook (see what I did there har har… yes, it would be good for me to have more than the dog to run these things past some days, anyway…)

I am meant to be writing and editing some other things that have crazy, scary deadlines, but instead I decided that a website was important for some reason that my mind convinced me wasn’t about procrastination but SO WAS. So here it is. The blog.

Anyway. I hope to actually make this thing look a bit more like a website in time. I did have a bit of fun designing the front page and all the graphics, I can just imagine my cover designer crying in mortification … but oh well. I did add an events page which was like some proper grown-upping for the day. Still, I suppose I’d actually better get back to that deadline. Did I mention it’s this Monday. So I better get back to that. You know, after I go tackle the garden. But after that, it’s gonna get serious up in here.

Cough.