When it comes to Abi Elphinstone I feel theres no need for introductions, her work speaks for itself, and from 2018’s Sky Song through to this latest book I have delighted in every chance to devour the exquisite stories that Abi writes, and tumble head first into the astonishingly beautiful and vast worlds she creates within them. When Abi announced she had written Picture Books for younger children I was just as eager to witness the works she had created for early book readers, and The Snow Dragon confirmed that no matter what age group Abi writes for she does it to such an impeccable way, and it always comes across as though Abi was born to tell stories for children to enjoy. Her work is my go to example of what Reading for Pleasure looks like, and so when word reached my ear that Abi was releasing a book in May 2024 I knew I would be driven mad with the wait! and here we are, on publication date, and I have the incredible honour of sharing my interview with Abi in regards to Ember Spark and the Thunder of Dragons. What better way to do so then to create an absolute first for my blog, a collaboration of interview content and also video features direct from Abi’s Instagram!
- For those who have yet to read Ember Spark and the Thunder of Dragons could you summarise what they can anticipate?
All her life, ten-year-old Ember Spark has been waiting for an adventure. Only the adventure seems to be running late. Very late. Then, one perfectly ordinary Sunday afternoon, strange things start happening in the sleepy seaside village of Yawn. Ember discovers a mysterious creature trapped on a rock out at sea, an odd smell descends over the village and Ember’s teacher, Mrs Rickety-Knees, gives Ember a very peculiar set of instructions in class: go to Stonechatter Castle and help Rusty Fizzbang. Rusty Fizzbang, it turns out, is a Vet To Magical Beasts, and he’s looking for two new apprentices. Not just to mend hippogriff wings and help baby dragons hatch but also to keep the magical beasts safe from evil Jasper Hornswoggle. But, as Ember and Arno discover, keeping dragons, griffins and unicorns a secret isn’t an easy task…
- Can you tell us about the cover design for the book, and the illustrations inside, who is the talent behind them? Do you have a favourite?
Kristina Kister is the illustrator. Nobody draws magical beasts better than her! I adore every single illustration but perhaps my favourite one is the first sighting we get of Stonechatter Cave and all the magical beasts inside.
- For those who do not know, who influences the character of Ember Spark, and how did that play into developing the rest of the story?
My 2-year-old daughter… I thought I’d seen my fair share of wildness over the years – I’ve ridden with the Kazakh Eagle Hunters in Mongolia, I’ve been a whisker away from orcas in the Arctic, I’ve felt the spray of Iceland’s biggest waterfall – but then, in 2022, I gave birth to my daughter. I did not know wildness until I met my daughter. She has flame-red, untameable hair (there was a brush once but she hurled it off a cliff). She naps in the dog basket instead of her cot because the puppy is the only member of the family who doesn’t tell her what to do. She hates baths but loves swimming in the ice-cold North Sea. She eats sand. There was only one thing to be done with her, I thought: write her into a story. So, along came Ember Spark: a feisty, flame-haired, animal-loving girl who discovers a cave full of fantastical creatures on the east coast of Scotland and becomes an Apprentice Vet to Magical Beasts.
- Is Arlo influenced by anyone too?
I included Arno more as a foil to Ember’s headstrong, reckless character. He’s an unlikely candidate for an adventure (he’d rather be inside making meringues) but as Ember’s teacher, Mrs Rickety-Knees, remarks: ‘adventures are a bit like hiccups; they can happen to anyone at any time.’ I wanted to write a story about the magic that happens when two children find themselves unexpectedly on an adventure together. It’s a magic that says to each child: it’s worth being curious, it’s worth taking risks and it’s worth going the extra mile for your friends. Because as Ember discovers, when life moves in a difficult direction, it’s curiosity, courage and friendship that draw you out of the darkness and fling you back into the light.
- Do you have a favourite character in the book, and if so who is it and why?
I’m a big fan of Forty Winks, the creature Ember rescues down on the beach at the beginning of the book, because he has all sorts of magical qualities and is fiercely loyal to Ember. I also loved creating Rusty Fizzbang, the Vet To Magical Beasts. He knows everything there is to know about fantastical creatures, including the fact that unicorn farts are sometimes so loud they register as minor earthquakes.
- Something I have come to love as a feature in all of your books is the names you award the various characters, where do you get your perfectly apt names for each of the characters we become acquainted with in this book?
I find character and place names everywhere and for Ember Spark & The Thunder of Dragons it was no different. I named a pet dog, Babaganoush, after passing the dip section in a supermarket. I named an elderly teacher, Mrs Rickety-Knees, after listening to an old lady in the doctor’s surgery complain about her dodgy knees. I named the villain of the book, Jasper Hornswoggle, after playing with random letters on a Scrabble board. And I named the Vet to Magical Beasts, Rusty Fizzbang, after trying ice-cream from a company called Fizzbang.
- Ember finds and befriends a hamster-like creature and this union symbolises the start of Ember’s adventures, do you have a hamster at home? Why this creature?
As a child, I was obsessed with wanting a pet. First came a goldfish – beautiful to watch, less ideal to cuddle – then came a rabbit. A golden, floppy-eared wonder of a Dwarf rabbit called Doodle, who had free roam of the house – right up until the moment my father found him weeing into his briefcase. I remember, vividly, the sense of importance I felt when I was given a pet to look after. Something smaller than me that needed my help and attention. And I remember the boundless love I felt, too. All of which I hope I’ve channelled into Ember Spark: her delight at finding a little hamster-like creature called Forty Winks on the beach and her excitement at becoming an Apprentice Vet To Magical Beasts. Currently, I have one pet: a mischievous ginger cocker spaniel named Mick Hucknall…
- This adventure takes place in Scotland, and therefore closer to home for you, how important was it to incorporate the places you love to visit in this book? How did it differ from locations you write of in previous books?
I always write about wild places but this is the first time I’ve borrowed directly from the landscape on my doorstep. Here in East Lothian, ancient castles perch on cliff tops, islands rise vertically out of the sea, seals slip silently into harbours and wild ponies roam the mountains. It is impossible not to find yourself on an adventure. It feels like a landscape thrumming with magic so I felt it was the perfect place to tip Ember into her first big adventure.
- Breathing life into mythical creatures and majestic landscapes seem to come so naturally to you, just how do you create such evocative content?
I love browsing through photographs of wild places and wild animals – I always make time to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition each year – and I often write with postcards of photographs from that exhibition in front of me. That or I go out into the wild with a notebook and take notes while sitting in the kind of landscape I want to write about. Or I open up picture books with exquisite illustrations of magical beasts (Chris Riddell, Jackie Morris etc) and write from them.
- How long did it take you to write Ember Spark and the Thunder of Dragons? What did that look like for you in regards to schedule/planning/preferred place to write?
It took me about six months to get a first draft of Ember Spark and the Thunder of Dragons. Initially, I thought I was writing for a much younger audience so I submitted the book at 20K words. But my publishers really liked the characters and said there was scope for a bigger adventure because the premise (kids as Vets To Magical Beasts) was a really fun set-up. So, I went back and ‘grew’ the story. I’ve got three little kids at home (aged 2, 4 and 6) so I write whenever and wherever I can: at home, in bed, on trains, on buses, in hotel rooms mid book tour (which is what I’m about to do now!).
- Is this the first in a series of books? Can you give us any hint at what we can anticipate next?
Yes! There are plans for three books and the second one, Ember Spark and the Frost Phoenix, comes out in October and opens with a magical beast hurtling through the window of Ember’s kitchen. It’s a frost phoenix, one of the rarest and wildest of magical beasts and it’s come to fetch Ember and Arno for their biggest adventure yet. One that involves neverwhales, krakens and a secret door in the Arctic…
- If you would like to purchase signed and dedicated copies of Abi’s books you can find more information on doing so here. I recently ordered two copies of this book, signed and dedicated, from a very special 8 year old bookworm and myself, naturally!
Other titles written by Abi that feature right here on my blog include :
samjdthomas.home.blog 
Great interview 😊
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