Felicity (Flick) Pulman is the multi-award winning author of short stories for adults and children as well as numerous novels for children and teenagers.  Over the past ten years she’s been living a double life, first as a time-traveller back to the court of King Arthur for her Shalott trilogy, and later as Janna, daughter of a wortwyf (herbwife) in her medieval crime series for teenagers, The Janna Mysteries.  Shalott:  The Final Journey (Book 3 of the Shalott trilogy) and Lilies for Love (Book 3 of The Janna Mysteries) have both won the Society of Women Writers biennial book award in the junior/YA fiction category, while Rosemary for Remembrance, Book 1 of the Janna Mysteries, was a CBCA notable book in 2007.  The above are all published by Random House Australia.

While Flick’s heart and mind are still preoccupied with medieval England, with Books 5 & 6 of The Janna Mysteries recently completed but still awaiting publication, she’s about to embark on something new, this time tapping into Australian history as part of the May Gibbs Fellowship she will be taking up in June 2010.  She’ll have a month in Adelaide to focus on her new project as well as being a writer-in-residence at Seymour College – she’s really looking forward to the challenge. 

Flick’s first ground-breaking novel for primary school students, Ghost Boy, is still hugely popular as schools can combine a study of the novel with a special Ghost Boy tour at the Quarantine Station in Sydney, where part of the story is set.  The novel incorporates the real and grisly history of a smallpox outbreak in 1881. Conditions at the QS were so bad that a Royal Commission was held in 1882 – a great research resource when it came to writing Ghost Boy.  Ghost Boy is also published by Random House Australia.

Many of Flick’s short stories have won awards and/or been published.  She’s won first prize in the Queen of Crime competition, the Dymphna Cusack award and a KSP fantasy award.  Recent publications include Jungle Juice in the latest issue 41 of the Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine and Tracking the Past, part of the Picture This! anthology published by Pearson Education.

Flick has a BA (Communications) degree and an MA in Children’s Literature. She has many years’ experience talking to adults and students about researching and writing her novels, and also conducting workshops in various genres, including crime, fantasy and writing from history. Read more about her on her website: www.felicitypulman.com.au and please leave a comment on her blog.

The Janna Mysteries:  Rosemary for Remembrance, Rue for Repentance, Lilies for Love, Willows for Weeping, Sage for Sanctuary and Thyme for Trust. Set in the 1140s, during the turbulent years of the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda, the over-arching theme of the story is Janna’s quest to find her unknown father after her mother dies in mysterious circumstances.  Janna is forced to flee when her home is burnt down, for her life is put in danger once the murderer realizes his identity is known.  She journeys from forest to farm to abbey and town, learning how to read and write and empowering herself through experience and knowledge so that she can protect herself and also follow the clues leading to her father’s identity.  She solves many crimes and mysteries along the way: a kidnapped boy, a stabbing at a fair, the spiteful destruction of an illuminated manuscript, the death of a pilgrim.  As she journeys closer to Winchester, so she becomes caught up in the treacherous royal court and the fight for the crown. Finding a missing letter puts her life – and her heart – in great danger.  In Willows for Weeping, (#4 of the Janna Mysteries) Janna is forced to choose between love and duty.  Several men have already died:  her choice will cause the death of another.  The last two books explore the consequences of Janna quest as the search for her father once again puts her heart in conflict with her sense of duty.   Read reviews of Felicity's Books: Rosemary for Remembrance - by Felicity Pulman Rue for Repentance - by Felicity Pulman Lilies for Love - by Felicity Pulman

The Shalott trilogy:  Five Australian teenagers travel back in time to try to change the legend of ‘the Lady of Shalott’ (Elaine of Astolat).  Callie reasons that, if she can capture Lancelot’s heart and keep him from Guinevere, not only will the Lady’s life be saved but the court will remain united behind King Arthur, and Camelot will be saved from destruction. What she doesn’t take into account is that Lancelot is already committed to Guinevere and that she, herself, will fall hopelessly in love with him both in past and present time.  The teenagers’ quest has consequences none of them can foresee as they find themselves rewriting their own lives and their own destiny. When Callie finally understands the true nature of her quest, it breaks her heart – and saves her future.

	Ghost Boy:  When Froggy’s family come to live with his grandmother after his father is injured in an accident, Froggy begins to have frightening drowning dreams.  When dream becomes reality, he is saved by the ‘ghost boy’, Tad – but can he trust Tad is telling him the truth when it becomes apparent that there’s a family mystery to solve, and with the family’s fortune at stake?
Set partly in 1881, this adventure story gives an accurate portrayal of society and the class structure of that time plus the early treatment of disease, which makes it popular in the classroom as well as with readers.

Flick lives close to the beach in Sydney and so can indulge her love of surfing and snorkeling.  She’s happily married, has a son and a daughter and four grandchildren who (almost) keep her too busy to write!  She was born in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia as it was then), spent several years in England but thinks of herself as an Aussie having lived here for ‘more years than I care to count’!

Felicity’s Website is:  www.felicitypulman.com.au