I’d had quite a tiring week, with some really tough moments in it, for reasons I won’t share here, and I was feeling exhausted and low. Then my dear friend gave me a fan letter from a child she knew. I got tears in my eyes reading it and seeing the gorgeous fan art he’d drawn - of a wonderful and very fierce dragon. This meant the world to me.

Dragon Daughter was a tricky one to write, with years of trudging down dead ends, and having to turn back, wondering if I should just give up, till I got the amazing support of my editor Rosie Fickling, who guided this book to the finish line. To know that all the hard work was worth it, that’s just a brilliant feeling, and very humbling indeed.

I loved books so much when I was nine, ten and eleven years old. I still do, but the books I read then had a very special magic about them. So I’m absolutely delighted, more than I can say, to know that this book is reaching readers of that age.

Thank you for writing to me, and sending me your fantastic picture!

Yours, one very grateful author