Tally and the Angel

When Tally discovers her pendant is home to the Angel Jophiel, she knows life will never be same again. But what good is an angel who won’t appear in front of others? Especially when she needs to convince her friend Balvan she knows where the kidnapped children of India are being held. Will Jophiel help Tally and Balvan escape the kidnappers’ clutches, or will they all perish?

Purchase Links:

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tally-Angel-Book-One-India-ebook/dp/B093WN5VYR

US - https://www.amazon.com/Tally-Angel-Book-One-India-ebook/dp/B093WN5VYR

Author Q&A
1. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
I came to my writing ‘career’ very late because I didn’t have the courage of my own convictions. I would tell my younger self to learn as much about writing as I can, to seek help from tutors, editors, courses etc. and to keep writing. Don’t give up. Don’t let anyone persuade you to give up. It’s very easy now, with the internet, to find an abundance of self-help, but that didn’t exist when I was young, and I had no one to encourage me. Rejections of my first attempts to get published put me off, despite the knowledge that all great writers suffer rejections. I was always at my happiest when writing – I let that slip for many years and concentrated on a lot of things that didn’t make me happy. I would tell my younger self not to let that happen!

2. What fantastical fictional world would you want to live in (if any) given the chance?
I would live in Narnia, especially if I could see Aslan on a daily basis.

3. Did you want to be an author when you grew up?
Actually, I wanted to be a vet. But my mother wanted me to be a ballet dancer so that’s what I did! I always loved writing though and wrote prolifically all my life without realising I was forming the basis for a writing career; I wrote weekly letters to my mother (I was at boarding school) from the age of ten till she died, and I used to be the one cheering the loudest when the English teacher set us creative essays for homework. I even used to write some of my classmate’s essays for them, I enjoyed it so much. I write a journal too. But it was a friend in Greece who encouraged me to ‘start writing’ when I was telling her about a scenario I had been imagining while I was out riding my horse one day. “Write it down,” she said, and it became the basis of my first book (unpublished).

4. Have you ever met anyone famous?
I met Tony Blair while in Namibia. I started talking to him outside the foyer of the hotel and afterwards asked my husband who I’d been talking to as I was ‘sure I recognized him’!

6.    How long, on average, does it take you to write a book?
It takes me about three months with another month for editing. Of course, as I’m writing children’s books, the word count is a lot lower than for adult books.

7.    How do you select the names of your characters?
They just seem to come to me. If they don’t, I look online for popular names of children born in the year my character would have been born in.

8.    What creature do you consider your "spirit animal" to be?
A wolf. A wolf like the direwolves of the Game of Thrones series, though. Not a mangy, small wolf!

9. If you were the last person on Earth, what would you do?
Strangely enough, I often imagine that happening. It would probably be awful, but it seems quite attractive in my imagination. I would surround myself with animals and spend all my time caring for them. I’m perfectly happy being on my own but I expect that if there was no hope of ever seeing another person, I might feel differently.

10.     When did you write your first book?
I wrote my first book in 1994. It was terrible! But I don’t begrudge the hours I spent on it as it was all good practice.

11. What’s a typical writing day like for you?
First, I walk my dogs and while doing that (providing I don’t have other human company) I plan my chapter for the day or work out plot problems. Then I retire to my little office, overlooking a field, and write till lunchtime. I go ‘home’ for lunch and then back to my burrow for the afternoon when I usually edit or do research.

12.    Do you listen to music when writing?
I don’t. I love music but would find it very distracting as I would have to stop and listen to it. I couldn’t have it as a background noise.

13. If you had to pick a celebrity to cast for your main character, who would it be?
I so want Tally and the Angel to be made into a film so that I could ask for Mark Strong to play the angel, Jophiel. I think he’s an amazing actor; he’s different in every role and he would bring just the right amount of elusiveness to Jophiel’s character. Plus, I’d get to meet him!

14. What’s one thing you’d like to say to your readers?
Please, please, please write a review! Maybe it’s the word ‘review’ that puts people off doing it. If we called it ‘feedback’ or ‘rate this’ it might encourage people more. We don’t need you to write an essay – just say that you liked the book!

Author Bio –

My school life was spent in a girls’ boarding-school specialising in classical ballet and on leaving I danced professionally, touring Europe, for 4 years. After that I ran my own ballet school in Athens, Greece and simultaneously volunteered as a veterinary nurse, as my love of animals is the driving force in my life. I returned to England with my horse and my cat, and now live on a smallholding in Shropshire with various farm animals and a constant stream of pets.

 I started writing while in Greece and completed a Creative Writing Course with the Writers’ Bureau. The same year, I won an annual competition in the Writing Magazine for an adult Fairy Story.

On my return to England, I wrote two children’s books, but my new life, caring for Highland Cattle, sheep, hens and pets, coupled with extensive global travel, meant that writing for publication took a back seat. I continued my love of writing with a daily journal and amusing travel blogs of each trip.

I am now writing full time and TALLY AND THE ANGEL is the first of a planned series. Their next adventure takes place in Canada, in North Yukon and the third in Japan. I intend them to have adventures in Greece, Egypt, Peru, Africa – anywhere I have been, really. 

My first book THE GRACEFUL GHOST  is shortlisted for the UK Selfies 2021 Award.

Social Media Links –

facebook.com/theburreau

https://www.instagram.com/theburrowinthefield

www.eleanordixon.com