Mia Fights Back
by Jessica Keane
A Mia the Kitten Adventure
Mia is back for another forest adventure. Snakes, poisonous plants and foxes are not the only threats the black kitten and her sidekick, Joker, face. The biggest danger lurks not far from home.
When disaster strikes and one of the animals is trapped without hope of escape, Mia knows she must try to save her friend. She will need all the knowledge she gained in kitten school.
Will Mia’s rescue plan work and will the animals get their revenge?
Two kind teenagers, a feisty goat, and a Scottish pony join the cats and forest animals in this exciting adventure story.
Mia Fights Back is Book 2 in the Mia the Kitten Adventure Series. This delightful animal adventure series about a feisty kitten and her forest friends is ideal for kids who love animals, nature and adventure. The illustrated chapter books are aimed at children above the age of six who are ready to step up from picture books to more complex stories with multiple characters. They work well as read together books for young families but can be read alone by competent young readers. I recommend reading the books in order although they work as standalone books as well.
Facts about nature and forest animals are woven into the plot that follows kitten Mia as she makes friends and keeps getting into trouble in the woods behind her house. All the books in the series focus on the value of friendship, kindness and the benefits of collaboration.
JK Keane spent her early years running wild in the forests of her native Germany.
When she was four years old, she decided that she was going to be an animal doctor.
Her dream came true and she worked for more than twenty years as a vet first in Germany and then in the UK.
Now retired, she lives with her husband in Shropshire. When she is not busy writing, you’ll probably find her exploring the local woods, looking for the best climbing trees or tracking the forest animals together with her grandchildren.
Reviews of Mia Fights Back...
'Amazon Review, October 2023 This book follows the adventures of Mia the mischievous kitten and all her friends. There is enough excitement to make the children turn the pages, enough informative content to help them learn about nature and enough escapades to have them giggling at the antics of the animals and the birds. My granddaughter loved the first Mia book. I know she will love this one too.
Amazon review: 5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating story of animals loved by children
Amazon review, 18 October 2023 An exciting read with realistic descriptions of animal behaviour that will enthral & amuse young children. Good for bedtime story & an early reading book.
Yes We Can
With a touch of magic
by Maureen Roberts
The lonely piano’s music floats round the market hall. Will it waken the young girl sleeping under one of the stalls? It does, and Annie and her piano embark on a journey of music and love. Love, for Annie, is in the shape of the piano and in Ezra who is in her class at school. The corona virus has closed the school, much to Ezra’s delight.
Ezra’s birthday present is a bicycle which gets stolen by Nigel and his gang. Ezra’s replacement bike is an abandoned wreck but Annie and her brother Fred help to get it repaired by Bob, the bike man, who Annie works for at the weekend. Although Ezra is persecuted by Nigel and his gang, Ezra always prevails. Does the bike have special powers? Or is it all in Ezra’s imagination?
The piano teaches Annie to play. She practices and becomes brilliant. The bike has given Ezra confidence to cope with his mum’s illness. Fred shows how, even when you are small, you can have the bravery of a giant.
The first stirrings of teenage love and the hard realities of it, permeate this story of Annie and Ezra..
Maureen Roberts is eighty-two and a widow.
She worked as a primary school teacher and had a gap year when she was fifty.
She fell madly in love when she was fifty-one and subsequently spent time travelling the world with her wonderful, crazy companion, John.
When John died, she started writing books for children, taking in bits from our travels.
She has six grand children who inspired and encouraged her to write her stories.
Mia is Lost
by Jessica Keane
A Mia the Kitten Adventure
Mia is a curious, cheeky kitten looking for adventure. Tempted by the mysterious forest behind her back garden she ventures in. Soon she is lost. Night falls, a thunderstorm strikes and hungry foxes prowl.
Will Mia’s friends find the scared kitten before it is too late? The neighbourhood cats ask a wise owl to lead the search.
Bats with superpowers, two kind deer, a forgetful squirrel and a nosy hedgehog all play their part in this big-hearted animal adventure story that will keep children and adults hooked.
Mia is Lost is Book 1 in the Mia the Kitten Adventure Series. This delightful animal adventure series about a feisty kitten and her forest friends is ideal for kids who love animals, nature and adventure. The illustrated chapter books are aimed at children above the age of six who are ready to step up from picture books to more complex stories with multiple characters. They work well as read together books for young families but can be read alone by competent young readers. I recommend reading the books in order although they work as standalone books as well.
Facts about nature and forest animals are woven into the plot that follows kitten Mia as she makes friends and keeps getting into trouble in the woods behind her house. All the books in the series focus on the value of friendship, kindness and the benefits of collaboration.
Reviews of Mia Is Lost...
Jo Leddington - 5 out of 5 stars A delightful story
This is a delightful story about a little black kitten who young readers will fall in love with. Mia’s adventures will keep them turning the pages and discovering the beautiful illustrations. The writing is evocative and conjures the atmosphere of the forest. The author weaves facts about the forest animals into an exciting tale. This book works for both the younger child being read to and the new reader. I loved it and so did my granddaughter .
Duncan Richards - 5 out of 5 stars A wonderful debut novel!
I thoroughly enjoyed this charming gem! As a child, I was fascinated with stories about animals, and this would have made it into my top five books along with my favourite collection of stories about a very talkative and imaginative hamster. I would recommend this book to any child around the age of six or above, or anyone with an interest in stories about nature and adventure. The plot was gripping throughout and the illustrations were delightful. I can't wait to read the next instalment!
Erin Britton - 5 out of 5 stars Great for reading to younger children or early readers to read
Our daughter (4 years old) avidly listens and loves asking questions about Mia and what she is going to do. An enjoyable read, highly recommend.
The Safari Games by Julie Churchley
The animals are raring to go and ready to compete in their very own sporting contest.
Who will be racing on the track?
Who will be jumping from the diving board?
Who might make it onto the podium?
Join the spectacle that is The Safari Games. Have fun.
Meet the competitors, some with four legs, some with horns, some on wheels or a blade, some with wings.
At the end of the day, they all come away with so much more than a medal.
Julie started putting pen to paper following a career in nursing.
In addition to personally experiencing the joy of books, having worked within child development, she appreciates the many benefits they bring, including speech and language, imagination and also bonding between the child with their parent/carer when sharing storytime.
Julie has a real-life love of animals and currently 'lodges' with a cat and a rabbit.
(The frogs remain outside in the pond.)
She loves to travel, is a keen crafter and loves a night out at the theatre.
She hopes there will be more adventures for Zeus and his friends to follow.
Up the Wrekin, here we go! Barley, the clever BorderCollie dog, Basil, his nephew and Mick, their human friend, have an exciting adventure and learn fascinating things about the Wrekin, a Shropshire beauty spot of fabulous rural charm, and a place of legends and wild imagination. When Mick runs into an old friend and local hero Gary, they start chatting – and the two dogs rummage around for an adventure...
Barley and Basil soon find themselves involved in a dangerous stand-off between a massive red-deer stag and a tiny meadow pipit bird.
The stag is very distressed and Barley is not sure whether he’s friendly or not. But the stag is standing between Barley and a meadow pipit in serious life-threatening trouble – and she has a nest full of newly born chicks. Barley has to think quickly of a way to rescue the pipit. He needs to trust his instincts...
Does the meadow pipit understand that Barley is a friend? A new friend might just be able to help…
Teaching in primary, secondary and special educational needs schools gave Roy Bradshaw a broad experience in the joys that a good adventure story brings to young minds (and not so young minds). Coupled with a previous career in engineering, the teaching helped to gel a problem-solving mind with fun one. Growing up in the Black Country, then moving close to Ironbridge some thirty years ago has allowed him to discover many of the local beauty spots and to use them as a background for my children’s books.
Grace is sure her brother Tom can read minds; he knows exactly what everyone's thinking!
Grace just has to guess (which can be hard at times).
But things might not be exactly as they seem with Tom's powers.
A story about the different gifts all have, as seen from an autistic perspective.
Created by both autistic author & illustrator.
Dizzy Spells by George English
“There used to be a wizard living in my street.” So begins Micky Carter’s adventures, meeting wizards and council officials as he and his friends try to protect the local community. Lots of fun and danger along the way as Micky, cook and “Knockie Nine Doors” champion, finds himself in places and situations he could never have imagined.
George English – Former radio broadcaster, Further Education lecturer and reviewer of children’s books.
Mischievous Mabel by Catherine J Leeves
In rural Devon the arrival of a border terrier puppy called Mabel turns life upside down for her new owners and for their cat and hen. Calm and quiet are replaced with chaos and mayhem. Mr and Mrs Dartmoor discover that life with a cute looking but highly energetic little bundle of naughty mischief will never be the same again.
Catherine lives in Devon with her husband Jon. Catherine works at her local supermarket as a clothing assistant. She loves animals especially horses, ponies, cows, dogs and cats. Her interests are horse riding, walking in the countryside and along the coast with Jon. She likes to challenge herself and flew down England's longest and fastest zip wire with some like-minded adventurous friends in 2018 for charity. She also enjoys reading, listening to music and Zumba dance classes.
This is Catherine's first book and was written during the summer of 2020 and the autumn and wintertime lockdowns as a fun new project.
When you have produced the final draft of your book, it is always advisable to have the text read and checked by a professional editor or proof reader.
You may have friends that are willing and competent to do this and we can advise you on the type of editing that is required.
We can offer four levels of editing as well as proof-reading.
You choose which, if any, are appropriate in your case: 1. Edit of sample pages and short report (£30)
We will edit a few pages to highlight editorial issues so that you can look for similar problems throughout the book.
This will reduce the amount of further copy-editing required when the book is finished. 2. Broad structural editing and criticism (£5 per thousand words)
A structural review is particularly relevant for works of fiction.
The structural reviewer will address the following main areas and produce a short report for the author ” Read More 3. Copy editing (£10 per thousand words)
A copy-editor takes a close look at your text, line by line, with an eye to grammatical errors, repetition, inconsistency and lack of clarity. The copy editor will make changes to the text, with suggestions for rewriting, grammar, and punctuation. When you receive the edited version, you have the final choice about accepting of rejecting the individual changes. 4. Proof Reading (£8 per thousand words)
Proof reading is a line-by-line check that the book is ready for publication. Proof readers will make small corrections for punctuation, grammar and spelling but they will not make significant changes to the text.
A proof reader will identify any significant issues and add comments to the text so that you can make those corrections yourself. 5. Consistency Scan
If you decide your book doesn’t need a full proof reading, we offer an electronic scan to search for common errors and inconsistencies. This looks at issues such as inconsistent spelling and inconsistencies of hyphenation and capitalisation.
We can also identify inconsistencies in the spelling of proper names. 6. Cover text
The quality of the text on the cover is very important as it indicates the quality of the writing in the book.
The title, sub-title and back-cover blurb are all important elements and we can work with you to make sure that these are correct and effective.
Copy Edit
Copy-editors get the raw material into shape for publication i.e they edit the copy.
When they have finished, the designer can lay out or typeset the book and produce a proof.
It is quite normal for the author to make additional changes after a book has been copy-edited.
Working through the material, the copy-editor may identify errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, style and usage, but also very long sentences and overuse of italic, bold, capitals and exclamation marks.
They should correct or query doubtful facts, weak arguments, plot holes and gaps in numbering.
In fiction, they should also check that characters haven’t changed their name or hair colour, look for sudden changes from first to third person among other things.
The Copy-editor is not a proof reader and should not be expected to find all of the errors in the text particularly if the text is badly written to start with.
This is the job of the proof reader.
The final proof should be checked by a proof reader or an experienced reader friend before going to print.
It is almost inevitable (and acceptable) to miss a few errors which can be corrected in a later edition.
Proof Reading
Proof reading is a line-by-line check that the book is ready for publication.
Proof readers will make small corrections for punctuation, grammar and spelling but they will not make significant changes to the text.
A proof reader will identify any significant issues and add comments to the text so that you can make those corrections yourself.
If you have decided to complete this stage of the process yourself, we will send a detailed check-list to help you.
We ask you to try and ensure that the book is completely ready before we start the layout.
Once the layout has started, we expect that you might want to to make a small number of amendments but
if there are a significant number, we may need to charge for the extra time it takes to change the layout
so best to discuss this with us first.
Structural Review
In fiction, the main areas that a structural editor will address are:
Plot: Does the plot make sense? Is it believable? Is it satisfying or does it leave the reader frustrated? Themes: Are the themes effectively handled? Are there so many that the book lacks focus? Do they interfere with the plot or complement it?
Characterisation: Are your characters well developed and believable? Are they cast in a role that fits their personality? Do they sometimes behave out of character? Point of view/voice: Is the voice consistent or is it sometimes confused? Is the voice authentic? Are you using too many or too few POVs? Pace: Does the plot move forward at an appropriate pace? Should you cut that preface? Should the action happen sooner or should the tension build more slowly? Dialogue: Do your characters sound real when they speak? Is your dialogue cluttered with adverbs and beats? Do you use clunky dialogue to move the plot forward? Flow: Is the narrative interrupted by dead-ends and tangents? Is there so much back story that the main plot is dwarfed? Are there missing plot points that would give the narrative greater integrity?
In non-fiction, the principle is the same, but the specific issues are slightly different:
Thesis: Is your thesis relevant? Is it clearly defined or is it lost among marginal issues? Exposition: Are your arguments clear and cogent? Are they well researched and properly supported? Do they have a clear relationship with your thesis? Content: Are all the necessary topics sufficiently dealt with? Are the chapters weighted correctly? Is there superfluous content? Organisation: Is the information organised logically? Are tables and illustrations used appropriately? How many levels of subheads do you need and how should they be arranged? Tone: Is the tone appropriate for the audience? Do you need to eliminate jargon? Is the text accessible? Pace: Are there passages that are bogged down in detail? Do you spend too long on detail irrelevant to the main thesis? Are there areas that need further exposition lest they be skipped over?
Cover Text
The quality of the text on the cover is very important as it indicates the quality of the writing in the book.
The title, sub-title and back-cover blurb are all important elements and we work with you to make sure that these are as effective as possible.
Consistency check
If you decide your book doesn’t need a full proof reading, we can run an electronic scan to search for common errors and inconsistencies.
This looks at issues such as inconsistent spelling, hyphenation and capitalisation.
It also checks for consistent formatting of numbers and dates as well as undefined abbreviations.
Subsequent Script Edit
It is very normal and generally beneficial for the script-editing process to go through at least a couple of cycles
i.e. the rewritten draft to be worked through once again by an experienced script practitioner – though this would be entirely at the discretion and behest of the writer.
Full Script Edit
The script that you deliver to us will probably constitute what the industry would classify as the ‘Initial Rough Draft’, i.e. a full screenplay written without any other professional input or advice, and probably without a great deal of rewriting. We work through your draft, line by line, scene by scene, and come back to you with a comprehensive set of notes from which you can then work towards the official ‘1st Draft’. Some of our notes will be broad and general, dealing with such areas as the overall shape and structure, pacing, plot and character development; others will be far more specific, with corrections, clarifications and suggested cuts etc. It is of course entirely up to you whether or not to take these suggestions on board, and to what extent.
Ongoing Support
We aim to make your self-publishing venture an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Publishing is a complex business and we treat every book as a separate project.
We explain all of the stages at the outset and we manage the project schedule for you. This will include all of the expert services you have requested for editorial, design, printing, distribution and collection of royalties, keeping in close contact with you throughout the process.
You will be allocated a project-sheet on the YouCaxton website so that you can monitor progress and ensure that all stages are properly completed.
If you would like to see an example of a Project-Sheet…
go to My project on the menu and enter…
Username: Sample
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