Category: Audiobooks

December update

Happy holidays, all! It’s freezing and snowy here in London, but the sun is shining so it’s looking beautiful out there. I hope you are all keeping warm! I’m a little late with this update but wanted to post before the year is out — so here goes! (And if you’re still in need of a few extra presents, there may be something here for you! 😊)

But first, I hope you enjoy this image, snapped in my garden earlier this week. I just love how the frost decorates the shrubs and trees!

Frost covered shrub with pink flower
From my garden earlier this week

The Christmas Tree Wish

If you’re still looking for something for the little ones, this heartwarming tale for ages 3-6 about hope and friendship is still as popular as ever! Gardners UK wholesalers have just run out so getting it from local bookshops will be tricky. However, the paperback is available on Amazon worldwide for delivery before Christmas. (If you enjoy sharing books on your tablet/ device with your children/grandchildren, the story is also available as an eBook with pop-up text via the link above.)

Christmas tree characters in a snowy scene beside the book 'The Christmas Tree Wish' by Karen Inglis and Anne Swift
Paperback and eBook available on Amazon

Eeek! The Runaway Alien makeover (free flip-book sample below!)

A new edition of Eeek! The Runaway Alien (the soccer-mad alien who came to Earth for the World Cup) is now out. It was long overdue a makeover and I’m delighted with the work of illustrator and layout artist, Rachel Lawston. I hope you enjoy! With the World Cup tournament in everyone’s minds (win or lose!), what better choice of stocking filler for 7-10 year-olds who love football (aka soccer) and humour! Described as ‘Laugh-out-loud funny!’ by LoveReading4KidsUK, Eeek! is still a firm favourite with both boys and girls. There’s an hilarious twist in Eeek! btw, but don’t tell the kids!

book cover with boy and football looking up at alien wearing a football scarf - the front cover of Eeek! The Runaway Alien by Karen Inglis

Tap or click here to read Chapters 1-3 of Eeek! as a flipbook on any device The flipbook sample comes complete with page-turning sounds!

Collage of images of alien, girl in catsuit outfit and young boy Charlie, from Eeek! the Runaway Alien chapter book

I’d love to know what your children think of the new design; please do email me to let me know!

Return to the Secret Lake audiobook is here!

The audiobook of Return to the Secret Lake came out this autumn. Whereas I narrated The Secret Lake, I knew this was a job for a professional — the sequel comes in at twice the length of book one and has a much larger character cast, which would have been beyond my skills! After listening to around 15 audition samples, I chose British voice actor Eilidh Beaton. Her ability to assume the voices of so many different characters is astonishing, and I am in awe of how she managed to put in so many hours over a relatively short period and still sound so fresh. Eilidh has over 100 audiobooks to her name, so that probably explain things! Click or tap the image or the link below it to hear a free sample over on Amazon.

silhouette of young girl at night by a gate in woodland garden - the front cover of Return to the Secret Lake Audiobook by Karen Inglis
Click to hear a free sample on Amazon

​Click this link or the image to hear a free sample on Amazon. The excerpt is the scene in past time where Emma’s best friend Lucy is sneaking out of her house in the middle of the night to try to find the time tunnel and get help for Emma, who is dangerously ill.

Thank you for your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

At the time of writing I’ve sold close to 9,000 copies of Return to the Secret Lake in the English language and the story has received nearly 400 ratings/reviews on Amazon with 83% 5-Star. This is truly heartwarming, especially as it was a rather nerve-wracking book to write following on from the success of book one! Children and adults say they especially love the mix of real history with a page-turning plot.

I am extremely grateful that no one so far has inadvertently included spoilers in their reviews — those who have read the book will know what I mean by this!

The German edition has also been extremely well received, and I’ve also just sold the Czech rights to Grada Publishing, whose readers loved book one!

Front cover of the German Edition of Return to the Secret Lake - girl standing by a gate at night

If you’ve bought and enjoyed Return to the Secret Lake, or its German translation, please do take a moment to leave a short review online as it will help other families find the story. Thank you!

The Secret Lake: illustrated Spanish edition coming soon!

In other exciting news, over the summer a major Spanish publisher bought the rights to The Secret Lake and is creating a colour illustrated version, which I hope will be out in 2023. I even got to choose from their final shortlist of illustrators, and have since been commenting on her pencil illustrations, which are amazing! I can’t wait to share the final result with you once it’s out! Watch this space 😊.

Spanish flag with inset image of girl by lake and a copy of The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis

Books from past time…

Earlier this year, my husband’s aunt died at the incredible age of 103. Before her house was sold, her daughter asked if I’d like to take a look through her collection of children’s books. Of course, I couldn’t resist. Below is a small sample of those I brought home — I’m sure that some older readers here will recognise at least some of them. The Water Babies is an 1899 Edition!

Another interesting fact is that Anne Logue (my husband’s aunt who owned these books) was married to Valentine Logue, son of Lionel Logue who was speech and language therapist to King George VI, and a main character portrayed in the film The King’s Speech. She said that her husband said that the somewhat downtrodden family apartment featured in the film was not accurate at all! The Logues apparently lived in a far grander property in Bolton Gardens, which is a very upmarket part of London!

Would you like a school visit?

Before I go, just to say please do get in touch or look at the school visits page here on my website if you think your child’s primary/prep/elementary school would like an in-person or virtual visit. For older pupils or secondary schools I can run talks on how books get made and writing and publishing in the digital age. I am mostly booked on World Book Day week 2023, but do still have a couple of slots for Zoom visits —and plenty of availability at other times for in-person or Zoom visits.

Classroom with pupils with hands up. Karen Inglis children's author at front of class
The Harrodian School July 2022 — questions about Return to the Secret Lake

That’s it for now. I’ll be in touch again in the new year. In the meantime, for everyone in the northern hemisphere, I hope you are able to find imaginative ways to stay warm without breaking the bank!

Happy reading in the meantime! 📚 😊

Karen

PS Reminder: if you/ your pupils or children have read Return to the Secret Lake or any of my other books it would be wonderful if you could take a moment to leave a short review online if you’ve not yet done so. Every little helps spread the word. Thank you!

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Autumn update 🍁 The Tell-Me Tree feedback, Eeek! audibook, new projects…

It’s September and back-to-school week here in the UK. Like everyone, I’m keeping fingers crossed that pupils and students will be able resume their school and uni life with as little interruption as possible in the coming months. If you’re farther afield with children studying from home, I do hope you are all managing in this challenging time.

I have a few updates below which I hope you’ll enjoy. These include:

  • Early feedback from parents and teachers on The Tell-Me Tree
  • A new, fabulously narrated audiobook of Eeek! The Runaway Alien – out soon and with a free coupon offer
  • A sneak peek of my Der verborgene See, the upcoming German edition of The Secret Lake, and plans for a new picture book for next year

The Tell-Me Tree: Your Feedback

I firstly wanted to thank everyone who has taken the time to write to me and/or leave a review of The Tell-Me Tree online. Early sales have exceeded expectations, especially here in the UK where it has been ranking in the top 2,000 or so on Amazon in the last few weeks. I’ve also seen healthy orders for non-Amazon sales (via bookshops or school orders), which is a lovely surprise!

Most importantly, however, I have been bowled over by the responses from parents and teachers, and in particular wanted to mention two emails I received. The first is from a parent, Nicola Roberts, from Kent, who has given me permission to share the photos and details you will find below. The second is from a teacher who is planning to use The Tell-Me Tree as part of her back-to-school activities.

Nicola’s message to me is one I will treasure for years to come and I hope you understand why. Her seven year-old daughter Lucy, seen below, has cerebral palsy, development delays and breathing difficulties caused by craniosynostosis (or “cranio”), a condition where the skull fuses too early, meaning that while the brain grows the skull cannot. Sadly, this resulted in a stroke for Lucy when she was just a year old.

little girl reading The Tell-Me Tree by Karen Inglis
Lucy at her gait analysis, and with big sister Edie, aged 10, who is reading to her 🙂

Nicola explained that, although it hasn’t been officially diagnosed, Lucy possesses a lot of the traits of autism, including severe anxiety both at home and at school. “At school she finds it difficult to express her feelings and therefore just bursts into tears or has a meltdown if she doesn’t understand something or cannot convey how she feels. I think it [The Tell-Me Tree] will help her immensely when she starts back. We have read it several times over and I can honestly say this is the first book she hasn’t got bored with halfway through. We adore everything about it, from the concept to the beautiful illustrations and the rhyming aspect. I had a lump in my throat when I first read it because it could’ve been written for Lucy.

“When Lucy goes back to school, I’m going to buy some copies for them, both to reiterate the meaning to Lucy and to help other children. I have five book cases filled with children’s books and I’m being totally honest when I say it’s the best book we’ve ever read.”

Nicola is keen to educate other parents and children about Lucy’s condition and, as I say, has given permission for me to share the photos above. A couple are from when she recently went to Guy’s and Thomas’ Hospital for her regular gait analysis test, to see whether she will need an operation to stretch her leg muscles. Apparently they took the book with them on the train to help keep her calm ahead of the visit. As you can see, Lucy is quite a character! Nicola says she is going to try and find a soft toy tree for Lucy to take to school which can be her very own portable tell-me tree. I am humbled and thrilled that The Tell-Me Tree has been of such help to Lucy, and wish her all the luck and love in the world as she grows up! I’m also thankful to every parent who has let me know how the book has helped their children express their feelings.

You can learn more about craniosynostosis here.

Teacher feedback

I was also extremely touched by an email received from a primary school teacher in Leicester who was downloading the various activity sheets and let me know that she will be using the book in the school grounds where they are lucky to have several mature trees. She plans to have activities based around the book under the trees, with the aim of encouraging children to talk, write or draw about how they are feeling after the long break from school.

Although I conceived The Tell-Me Tree before the pandemic, it has clearly resonated with many families and teachers in the context of what everyone has been through in the last few months and I am humbled and delighted if it can serve to help. Thank you all for your feedback and please do feel free to share any photos of The Tell-Me Tree in action and I will post them on my social media if you are happy for me to do so. Oh – if you’ve bought but not yet reviewed The Tell-Me Tree, would you be able to take a moment to do so? Thank you very much!

Eeek! The Runaway Alien

😊  👽 Hear a free sample from the upcoming audiobook! 👽 😊

Described as ‘Laugh-out-loud funny’ by LoveReading4KidsUK, Eeek!, my second most popular book for older ones (ages 7-10) after The Secret Lake, continues to be a firm favourite with reluctant and keen readers alike – and with both boys and girls. (It has a great twist, but don’t tell the kids!)

Image of alien with football spinning on finger - from Eeek! The Runaway Alien by Karen Inglis
Due out mid September 2020

I’ve long wanted to produce the audiobook of Eeek! and am thrilled so say this has finally happened and it should be available from mid September. The narrator, voiceover artist Ciaran Saward (pronounced SWORD), offers up a wonderful array of human and alien voices! You can listen to an excerpt from Chapter 2 over on my author website here. I hope that you or your children/pupils enjoy the excerpt.

*Offer: When the audiobook goes live I shall be giving away 10 free audible codes. Sign up to my email list to be in with a chance to enter the draw in the next couple of weeks.*

The Secret Lake – German edition

I have just approved the German edition of The Secret Lake, for which I have project managed the translation. Below is an early reveal of the front cover 😊.  The title ‘Der verborgene See’ translates as ‘The Hidden Lake’. My German translator and editor both felt this to be a more apt choice for the German language and I do like the ring it has, I must say!

I also recently received two copies of the Russian Edition – to see a fun short flick-through, pop over to my instagram account or facebook page. The Secret Lake is also due out in Turkish in October and in Czech in March 2021. It warms my heart that this magical story, that went through so many drafts, and about which I had so many doubts when sitting alone writing it at the top of the house, is now capturing children’s imaginations around the world! 

Der verborgene See - The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis (German edition)

🌺  Stop Press: I have plans afoot for a special colour illustrated hardback edition of The Secret Lake and will give updates on this in my next blog post. Watch this space! 🌺  The early concept illustrations are beautiful. 😊

A new picture book next year…

Lastly, I’m in the early stages of formulating a new picture book for next year and, again, shall be working with Anne Swift – illustrator for The Tell-Me Tree and The Christmas Tree Wish.  I can’t say much more other than that it will not feature trees this time around 🙂 There might be a cat though! 😼  I’ll provide more updates on this in the coming months.

That’s it for now. Stay safe and I’ll be in touch as soon as the free promo codes for Eeek’s audiobook are available in mid September or so. In the meantime, I hope that back-to-school goes smoothly for your family.

Quick reminder: If you buy or have already bought The Tell-Me Tree, it would mean a lot to me if you could find a moment to leave a short review online as this will help other parents and teachers find it.

Thank you!

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The Secret Lake audiobook, Australian log cabins, Albanian translation and other summer news…

Summer is here, it’s Wimbledon fortnight in southwest London and it’s not been raining too much for England! But that’s not the only reason to celebrate 😊. I’m thrilled to announce that the audiobook of my Amazon UK bestseller The Secret Lake has just come out and is available to sample for free or to buy now. With its summer mystery adventure theme, the timing couldn’t be better.

The reading age for The Secret Lake book is 8-11. However, the audiobook is perfect for ages 6 and above. (Grown-up fans of classic children’s adventure stories such as Enid Blyton and Nancy Drew love it too!) So if you have a car or other journey planned and would like to keep the kids occupied for two and a half hours, do check out the samples by following the links.

I am narrating so I do hope you and the children enjoy an English accent. It required huge amounts of practice and preparation but was worth every minute for the experience. Did you know that for every hour of audio recording there are typically six hours of editing and mastering involved?! Here are a few photos of me at the recording studio in Brixton with sound engineer Andy Marlow 🙂

Untitled design (21)

The Secret Lake has continued to chart in the top 300-800 (mostly) on Amazon UK over the last few months, as well as fluctuating in the top 2,000-5,000 over on Amazon.com. It has also been ranked regularly in the top 2,000 for all print book sales (not just children’s or Amazon) for the whole of the UK in recent months, according to reports from Nielsen bookscan. As I have said before, when I first sent the manuscript out to publishers they told me that children were no longer interested in traditional adventure stories. How wrong they were!

The audiobook on Amazon has Whispersync enabled, which means the kids can swap between the Kindle version and audiobook and keep their place, or even listen and read along with word highlights on some Kindle models. I’ve not tested this yet but will do so and blog about it at a later date. I think you need to have the Audible app installed for this to work.

The Secret Lake, Australia and Ten Log Cabins 🏕️

Yes, this is a very unlikely combination, I have to confess! But my favourite email in this week was from a lovely Australian called Graham. It read as follows:

Hi Karen, We have just purchased a property in New South Wales, Australia and have named it Secret Lake. We saw your book and loved it. We will be building 10 self-contained cabins around our lake and will find and put copies of your book in each cabin.

Here’s a picture of the lake that was in the property details he sent a link to. I am still speechless but so thrilled 🙂 As and when they are built I will share photos of the books in situ!

Image of lake from sky with trees all around
The owner plans to put a copy of The Secret Lake in 10 log cabins around the lake.

The Secret Lake in translation: introducing my first Albanian Fan

I was thrilled last Autumn to receive a rights request for The Secret Lake from Albania and even more excited when the book came out in June. Here’s a picture of my first Albanian fan at a book fair in Kosovo, which has a large Albanian population. The publisher Botart have many other English classics on their list, such as Michelle Magorian (Goodnight Mr Tom), Roald Dahl and David Walliams so I feel in good company and very safe hands. Next up is a Russian translation for which I have recently finalised a deal – more on this another time! In the meantime I hope you enjoy the picture and video below 😊.

Young girl holding up a copy of The Secret Lake in Albanian
My first Albanian fan 🙂

 

 

The Secret Lake as a Class Reader

I’ve been receiving increasing contact from primary school teachers saying they have been using The Secret Lake in class, including one Deputy Head of English at a school in Durham, UK who is now mapping out a full Scheme of Work based on the book to be taught across four classes from September. He has invited me to go and watch the sessions live once they are up and running – I can’t wait and will blog about this in more detail when the time comes.

And below is a lovely photo (for which I received permission to share) from a school in Wiltshire, where the children each sent me a handwritten letter telling me how much they had enjoyed the story. Getting feedback from readers and schools means so much. Please do email or write to me with any feedback you have for any of my books and I will be happy to reply and share. Anything I can do to help encourage children to read and write more is a pleasure!

hand written letters arranged with a copy of The Secret Lake children's book
Wonderful handwriting – and lots of requests for a sequel to The Secret Lake!

That’s it for now. I hope you have a wonderful summer (or winter) break!

Before signing off I just want to wish the Women’s England Football Team the very best of luck in their World Cup semi final against the USA this evening. May the best team win! Needless to say, Eeek is excited for more reasons than one! (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, ask the kids if they’ve read the book…!) ⚽ 👽 🏆

Update: Eeek! sends congratulations to the USA Women’s Soccer Team for winning! “You were awesome!” ⚽ 👽 🏆

Eeek

Happy reading and listening!

Karen

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