The Boy is Back - and he's not alone!

He’s now “in Two Heads”, and part of a trilogy. But Themistokles' story of involvement in the Olympics of 432 BCE and how he got there is the same. Back in 2012, I believed his and Suzanne's novel was a one-off, but they had other ideas! As time went on, Themistokles kept ‘telling’ me bits of his later life. At first, I just wrote them down as separate incidents. Then Suzanne began to do the same, and gradually I had another novel. Then a third. So I may not have been posting here for a while, but I have been ‘listening’ and writing, rewriting, researching and, until last March, travelling.

Then, around this time last year, by chance I saw a tweet from Caroline Lawrence (@CarolineLawrenc, millions-selling author of children’s books set in Ancient Rome, and Athens) about The Boy with Two Heads. It said, “Ooh! Another #timeslip to #Athens novel for kids! Written by @JuliaMNewsome in 2012, this one has lots about the Olympic Games. I’m loving it so far!” And there was a picture of my book. I was thrilled! (Although The Boy was not written for kids under 12, nor is only about Athens.)

from the Amazon web site

Caroline’s tweet gave me a boost. Even though her books are for a different age category, she is a world-wide best-selling writer (carolinelawrence.com). So her interest and kind encouragement had me thinking seriously about naming the new stories, polishing them up and perhaps publishing them. Because, once upon a time, before the internet, I was a professional editor and publisher of textbooks. Surely, with the help of The Boy’s original publisher, Trifolium Books UK, I could learn how to do it myself with the new technology? It could be my COVID survival project! 

Birkby Books
design: Connie Jensen

Thus, The Boy in Two Heads, and his two accompanying volumes, The Girl in Two Minds and Precarious Connections, are coming out, one by one, under my new imprint, Birkby Books. At present, with Kate of Trifolium, we are working on visually linked covers, but The Boy’s revised text was ready early, so I brought him out in his old jacket to coincide with this year’s anomalous Olympics. The three books will make up The Connection Trilogy.

The Two Heads by Fliss Watts

Themistokles and Suzanne have kept me company and been fascinating (though somewhat demanding) friends during this deeply disturbing time, for which I’m very grateful. Now they even have portraits ready to be incorporated into the new covers, thanks to Fliss Watts (instagram: @flisswatts, https://flisswtts1Wordpress.com).

If you are new to this blog and didn’t read the 2012 edition of The Boy, this is what some readers said:

"A very clever concept for time travel ... lots about the Olympic Games. I'm loving it ...!" Caroline Lawrence (see above).

"This book transported me effortlessly back to ancient Greece, vividly evoking its exotic sights, sounds and even smells. And it seems that young people's issues have hardly changed in 2,400 years!" Marion Clarke, fiction editor.

"A wonderful story which brings the ancient Olympics to vibrant life." Philippa Harrison, former Managing Director of Macmillan and Little, Brown UK.

"... extremely well written, highly believable and engaging ... the aspects of every day life in Ancient Greece are so cleverly and easily portrayed here." Fiona Robson on Goodreads.

"This was a very engaging read. Lovers of the grecian era will find it interesting and the blog is a good twist." Prudence on Amazon. (not this blog, the one in the book!)

" ... a story on different levels, from different points of view. It brings ancient Greece to life, ... excellent ... well-researched ... well-written story." Sally Katherine Bracher on Amazon.

" ... enthralling read, I did not want to put the book down." Bill on Amazon Kindle.

The Girl in Two Minds will be out later this summer, and next year, the third book, at present titled Precarious Connections (unless I change my mind again, which I have done every day for months!). 

If you are on Twitter or Instagram or any of the other wide-reaching platforms, please post a link to this blog, or better still, read the book and post a review! You will be mystified, amused, excited and enthralled. (At least, I was while I was writing it!) 

Thanks for reading! 

Please leave a comment or a review if you can.

The Boy in Two Heads ISBNs: 

paperback 9781838413606

ebook 9781838413613

@JuliaMNewsome on Twitter

'J M Newsome, author' on FaceBook

The appearance of this post is different on smart phones and tablets, but all the content seems to be there! 

All photographs © Julia M Newsome unless otherwise credited

It all began 3 years ago today

Three years ago today, Suzanne Short (a Year 10 student from Cumbria) started out on a strange and wonderful adventure. You can read her story in my time-slip novel, The Boy with Two Heads. Her best friend is Bernadette, known as Bernie. This is an extract from Bernie's blog:

From Bernie’s Blog. Feb 15th 2010, Monday 

School trip to Greece, Day 4 

Athens. Hotel Artemis.

THIS HAS BEEN THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!! 

Where do I start? 

Poor poor Suzanne. Will she be OK? Why did this happen? And in a country where I don’t understand anything! 

So… Concentrate! Start at the beginning … 

This morning we all got our backpacks together with packed lunches from the hotel, and water bottles, and questionnaires, and all the usual tourist stuff. And Suzanne seemed a bit quiet. Yesterday she was leaping around and like ‘We’re gonna see where it all began.’ Meaning the Olympics, of course. She’s obviously still obsessed, even though she gave up the idea of competing because of bloody Ian. 

But today she was really quiet. Then she told me that Ian had dumped her. Up at the top of the Stadium! By text! Right in the place she’d been so excited to see. ‘Where it all began’. 

And now, maybe where it all ends.
OMG!
Pause for tears. Oh help … 

Right. Trying to get it together now. 

We were all crossing the road along the open end of the stadium. We’d all got across except Suzanne. She missed the light so she could take a last photo. I was just teasing Gina about there being no cake in the packed lunch, when I heard a screaming noise from an engine and a load of shouting. I turned round and saw that Suzanne was lying on the tarmac near the pedestrian crossing. The traffic was stopped dead. A motorbike was on its side in the middle of the road and Mr Green had his arm round a man’s neck. ...

Panathenaic Stadium pedestrian crossing

And this is where Suzanne's story began, on the pedestrian crossing by the Panatheniac Stadium in Athens. (As you can see, crazy motorcyclists are not a common occurrence.)

Time-slip - illustrated?

Providence College mural - Greek vase painting comes alive!

While researching pictures of Ancient Greek athletes for the short video I mentioned in my last posting, I came across news of an event involving a very interesting mural. It was created at Providence College, Rhode Island, on a template by Peter Tigler. It was painted on February 11th by alumni, students, families, and guests of the college as part of a celebration of women in sport. 

There's a time-lapse video of the mural being painted here. 

I found this fascinating - almost an illustration of the time-slip that is the basis of the story in The Boy with Two Heads!