School friends debut fantasy novel is a dream come true
Two budding writers have combined their talents to produce a new fantasy novel.
Sophie Petticrew, from Mauchline, and Karen Cooper, from Ochiltree, have co-written‘Spirit Guardians of Provenance,’which has already been well received by the public.
Their debut novel is a young adult fantasy, based in the mythical land of Provenance, and tells the story of six teenagers who have to travel to this land and defend it against an evil overlord.
And Karen, 32, who works in the library at Grange Academy, Kilmarnock, revealed how the book came to life.
She revealed:“The idea was Sophie’s.
“She had a go at writing it herself, but every time it never quite came out right. We’ve been friends for 20 years and were chatting about it one day.
“I said‘I’m the exact opposite, I love writing, but I can never come up with anything to write about’so it was a match made in heaven- and between the two of us we made one competent author!
“So far, we have heard nothing but good things and we’re chuffed to bits with the reception. I work in a school library and I had some copies issued here. All the pupils who took it out have really enjoyed it, so it’s been a dream come true.”
Karen and Sophie, also 32, have been firm friends since their days at Ochiltree Primary and Auchinleck Academy.
Currently, Sophie is coming towards the end of her first year as a student mental health nurse.
Karen believes that Sophie’s idea for the book was borne out of escapism from the tough realities of being a care practitioner.
She said:“Fantasy has always been a bit of escapism for Sophie in terms of her job and exams. It’s great to escape from that kind of pressure.”
The hope is that the pair can reunite and possibly pen a sequel to Spirit Guardians of Provenance.
Karen revealed:“We’d like to write a follow-up, we left the end of this one open ended so we can maybe revisit it and hopefully we can do another one. We’d love it if we could manage it.”
The book is available via Amazon, and can be ordered at Austin MacAuley Publishers at https://www. austinmacauley.com/