George and the Poison Arrow

Set in the mediaeval Kingdom of Ingland, this urban fantasy, highlighting the power of friendship and loyalty across nationalities and language barriers, is spiced with humour and romance - dragon-style. When Lermin, Ingland's most powerful wizard, is struck down by a poisoned Fyeking arrow, it's a race against time for George and his friends as they search for the antidote. As the wizard languishes at death's door, it takes all of Leihla's burgeoning magical skills, George and Mo's courage and ingenuity, and Yorrick's dogged determination to first identify what could save their old friend, then track down the ingredients. While Mo takes to the treacherous tunnels beneath the town of Hamlet in pursuit of a mysterious traitor, George talks his way onto a homeward-bound Fyeking longship, heading for the enemy stronghold on the island of Orcknie in search of a sacred spring. There he meets and befriends slave girl Marianne, survives a cliff-top archery test, and ultimately summons the aid of dragons Oroflamm and Orotella as the clock runs down.

I guess you could say languages are my life. I was born and raised in the UK, followed my heart to Germany at the age of 25, lived in Ulm and Stuttgart, and have long since settled among the orchards and vineyards of the Rems valley. I read Modern Languages at Oxford, worked in marketing for a group of English language schools in the UK, taught English as a foreign language in Germany, and was then Head of Language Services for Germany's first translators' cooperative. Since 1991, my wife and I have been running our own translation business. At some point, the writer in me wanted to move into the front line: instead of recreating someone else's script in another language, I was eager to craft and refine tales of my own. The outcome is the burgeoning series of George's adventures, beginning with George and the Golden Letterseed, followed by George and the Poison Arrow and with George and the Magician's Maze currently taking shape. And coming full circle, as an author I have made languages a key theme of my stories.