Annie & Cornelius

Annie Humble and the Bureau of Missing Souls

Psychopomps and their Spotters help reluctant earthbound spirits cross over. It’s a thrilling job for kids, especially an adventurous young ghost like Annie Humble, and her very-much-alive friend, Elliott. Emboldened by early successes, however, Annie underestimates the dangers ahead when Elliott spots a new case at a West End theater. Dashing back and forth between the Living Side and the Other Side, Annie must use her wits, street smarts, and newly acquired Psychopomp training to prevent a vengeful ghost from bringing down the house. But if you aren’t already dead, the job could well be the death of you – something Elliott may discover to his cost.

Interlacing humor with moments more profound, ANNIE HUMBLE AND THE BUREAU OF MISSING SOULS is a realm-crossing middle grade adventure about the importance of human connection. Loneliness and isolation can set the stage for anger and calamity when spirits become earthbound, but even the most obstinate and terrifying ghosts have a story to tell – and quite possibly a mystery to be solved – if only they could find folk able to see them, and willing to listen without fear.

Annie Humble’s character was inspired by the year I lived next to Brompton cemetery, a well-known Victorian cemetery and park in Chelsea, London. 

Corn Dog’s War

Wars are monstrous, breeding suspicion and hostility in a climate of terror. When a true monster threatens the once-sleepy village of Upper Salviston, however, a motley crew of children – led by evacuee Cornelius (Corn Dog) Digby-Birtwistle and his trusty Dachshund, Spartacus – must confront their fears and village prejudices if they are to save a house full of orphans from a hideous fate. 

Written in the form of letters, reports and newspaper cuttings, CORN DOG’S WAR is a middle grade fantasy set in World War II Britain. At a time when a nation’s fear of imminent attack and destruction is at its height, frayed nerves and upheaval cause tensions between the village natives and the swarms of ‘friendly invaders’ brought into their county by the war machine.  But in searching the skies and the faces of the ‘outsiders’ for the danger they dread, the villagers fail to see the evil that has been living amongst them all along.

Of all things, CORN DOG’S WAR was inspired by my son’s horror of having his toe nails trimmed!