I’m Karen Inglis – welcome to my author website! Whether you’re a young reader, a parent, a school or a bookseller I hope you’ll enjoy looking around!
I live in Barnes, South-West London with my husband. We have two sons who are working and also living in London. Below is a picture of our beautiful tabby cat Misty — we adopted her from a cat rescue charity almost 19 years ago when she was about a year old. Very sadly she crossed the rainbow bridge in the summer of 2022, and we still miss her. But she had a very happy life — and she still looked almost as young as in this picture. She was at my side for all of my children’s book writing so I am keeping her memory alive here!
Becoming a children’s author…
I first started writing for children when the boys were toddlers…. in fact three of the books you’ll find here were written when they were younger, and sat in a box for over 10 years after I went back to my day job (which is also writing)! I then took a break from work in 2010 and decided that it was time to look at them again. There was a lot of rewriting and editing to do – it’s definitely the hardest part of being a writer – but it was worth it! Well over half a million readers, mostly children, had enjoyed my books at the last count in December 2022 — and The Secret Lake has sold rights to nine countries. 🙂 .
Here’s my office, where I do most of my writing and editing and blogging… I used to do my professional writing here too. Most of it was about money and tax, which is nowhere near as fun as making up stories!
And here’s the view to my garden in Spring – there’s a wonderful Magnolia tree that comes into bloom just for a few days.
About my children’s books…
Follow the links at the top of the screen or below to find out about my books – you can order all of them online or from your local bookshop. (They should be able to get in copies within a week.)
While most of my books are fiction adventures, my picture book The Tell-Me Tree, gently encourages children to share their feelings through writing, drawing or conversation. It has received praise from teachers, parents and mental health charities and is being used widely in UK classrooms. You’ll find more info on my other books below, or in the links the top menu. 😊
Find out more about The Tell-Me Tree on my blog post here.
- The Secret Lake — A lost dog, a hidden time tunnel and secret lake take Stella and Tom to their home and the children living there 100 years in the past. A ‘time-slip’ mystery adventure for readers aged 8-11 yrs. Over 500,000 sales and more than 15,000 Star reviews UK/USA – don’t miss! 🙂 Inspired by the communal gardens of Notting Hill and a magical woodland called Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park, close to my home.
- Return to the Secret Lake — Another page-turning time travel adventure for ages 8-12 set between 1900s and present-day London. In this unmissable sequel, we see Lucy come forward in time in search of a cure for Emma who has fallen dangerously ill. Of course, things are never straightforward where time tunnels and magical moles are concerned — and so unfolds a thrilling tale of time travel, rekindled friendships and new threats that no one could have foreseen.
- Beyond the Secret Lake — Book 3 in the international bestselling Secret Lake Series. Coming soon in January 2024! Find out more here.
- Walter Brown and the Magician’s Hat — A magical mayhem page-turner with black and white illustrations for ages 7-9+ about a boy who inherits a magician’s hat with special powers.
- Eeek! The Runaway Alien — a fast-paced story about an alien who loves football and runs away to Earth for the World Cup! Popular in schools, book clubs and used in the Get London Reading campaign – 7-10 yrs.
- Henry Haynes and the Great Escape — A fun first chapter book with illustrations for early readers, ages 6-8, about a boy who falls inside his library book and gets caught up in a zoo escape being masterminded by Gorden, a VERY smelly gorilla!
- Ferdinand Fox and the Hedgehog— An endearing rhyming picture book for ages 3-6 introducing Hatty the hedgehog and her baby son Ed. It includes eight fun pages of hedgehog and fox photos and facts.
- Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep — A rhyming picture book for ages 3-5 yrs based on the true story of a fox that once fell asleep in my garden. (Colouring book also available.)
- The Christmas Tree Wish — As the snow starts to fall on Christmas Eve morning, little Bruce Spruce dreams about finding a home for Christmas Day. But when things don’t quite go to plan he finds that his friends are there for him – and all is not lost…
- The Tell-Me Tree — Hello, I am the Tell-Me Tree. Why don’t you come and sit by me…” Beautifully illustrated, this gentle picture book invites children to share how they are feeling – whether happy, sad or anywhere in between, through conversation, drawings and / or writing. Suitable for ages 4-8.
How my books get made…
I have been offered traditional publishing deals in the last few years. I’m certainly not ruling it out but, for now, I’ve decided to say as an ‘Author publisher’ or ‘Self-published’ author – lots of writers are doing their own publishing these days, because it means that we can get our stories out to our readers more quickly, and it gives us more creative control all round. This means that as well as writing the book I organise everything else – including finding an illustrator and cover designer, finding beta (test) readers and editors/proofreaders, getting the book interior designed and formatted (I do some of this myself, but not all), then uploaded to the printer or Amazon.
Once the book is up there, there’s all the marketing to do – so that people know it’s available and can buy it.
If you think you’d like to be a writer one day, you can find out how I went about self- publishing at my writer’s blog at selfpublishingadventures.com
And here’s what else you can do here:
- Book a school visit
- Order books for party bags for UK delivery
- Click through to order from Amazon using the right-hand links*
- Read my blog page – to find out what I’ve been up to recently
If you can’t find something – or simply want to ask me a question, feel free to email using the contact link above.
If you’d like me to contact you when my next book is out, or when I have other important news, sign up below – I won’t share your details and you can unsubscribe any time.
Subscribe to my very occasional newsletter!
Have fun 🙂
Karen
*please note that I use Affiliate links on my site. This means that if you order a book from Amazon via my link I will earn a small commission. However, the cost to you will be no different than if you bought without using my link.
