David Jones loves ships, particularly ships in bottles. His latest, the Golden Needle, is a fine pirate vessel. So when David wakes up to find himself being press-ganged on board, he assumes it's a dream. The only thing is, he isn't asleep. The Golden Needle is crewed by a motley assortment of fiendish pirates, led by the once-terrifying Captain Fisher. The only thing they have in common is the desire to atone for past misdeeds, and a lot of gold thread. Now, trying to be good, they are desperately attempting to stitch together the many worlds - including our own - that are sliding towards obliteration in Inferno Rim. But not every pirate in this new dimension is good. Some still have a yearning for gold. In hot pursuit of the Golden Needle is the Scythe, crewed by pirates who live only to steal the golden thread anchoring the worlds. Soon the Golden Needle will run out of time and golden thread - and then her crew will have to turn and face the Scythe. What will David do when the day of battle dawns? Who will win this fight to the death? If it is the Scythe, who will save the worlds? A swashbuckling adventure to shiver yer timbers!
My journey to becoming an author has been a roundabout one, taking in many other careers. I grew up on the edge of Epping Forest (Essex, UK) and was that dreamy kind of child who was always writing stories. After reading English at Cambridge, I decided to find out as much as I could about the wider world so joined the Foreign Office and served in Poland. My work as a diplomat took me from the high point of town twinning in the Tatra Mountains to the low of inspecting the bottom of a Silesian coal mine.
On leaving Poland, I exchanged diplomacy for academia and took a doctorate in the literature of the English Romantic Period at Oxford. I then joined Oxfam as a lobbyist on conflict issues, campaigning at the UN and with governments to lessen the impact of conflict on civilians living in war zones - a cause about which I still feel very passionate.
Married with three children, I now live in Oxford between two rivers, surrounded by gargoyles, beautiful sandstone buildings and ancient trees. I plan my books while walking our dog, Caspar, on Port Meadow by the Thames or Isis.
My first novel, 'The Diamond of Drury Lane', won the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2006 and the Nestle Children's Book Prize 2006 (formerly known as the Smarties Prize). I was also chosen by Waterstone's in 2007 as one of their 'Twenty-five authors for the future'. 'Empty Quarter' was longlisted for the Carnegie Award 2009; 'Wolf Cry' in 2010. In the US, 'Secret of the Sirens' won the honor book medal of the Green Earth Book Award.
