New title in magic series
It’s essentially a battle of good versus evil, so I think everyone can relate to that regardless of age. NEIL JOHNSON
AFTER the growing success of his first book, a Toowoomba-based author has released the second instalment of his magical series.
It took Neil Johnson two decades to take the plunge and publish his book The Burning of Elizabeth Barker – a novel which took the avid reader only eight days to write.
And after the positive response the first book received, the creative author has now released the second title of the series – The Washing of Elizabeth Barker.
Following the story of 11-year-old heroine Elizabeth Barker, who inherits magical powers and the ability to summon the dead, the popular series is likened to Harry Potter.
“I’m very proud of the second book – the first one was a pretty good effort, but I’m really excited about this one because there’s definitely been an improvement,” Mr Johnson said.
“This book explores where Elizabeth got her powers from and has more of a science fiction element to it … without spoiling it, there’s also a bit of time travel, worm holes, terrorist attacks and witches involved.
“My partner in crime in all this is Steve Wilson who does a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes as well as the beautiful book covers – he comes forward with these incredible images and they just look so great on the shelf.”
Suited to teenagers as well as adults, Mr Johnson said his series attracted a varied age demographic.
“Young teens really enjoy it because like the Harry Potter books, they get to grow with the characters and because they go to school, it’s very relatable with a bit of magic on the side,” Mr Johnson said.
“It’s essentially a battle of good versus evil, so I think everyone can relate to that regardless of age … I met someone at the launch the other day who loves the books and they were 77 years old.”
Formerly a teacher, past students often attend Mr Johnson’s book launches. He is currently working on the third and final book of the series.
The Washing of Elizabeth Barker is available from Toowoomba’s Kaboom Comics for $25 or online at Amazon for $33. It is also available in Kindle and e-book formats.