Book 1 of the award winning Shalott trilogy.

Through a virtual reality program (and magic?) five teenagers are transported back in time to the court of King Arthur.

Unable to return, they are caught up in the dangerous liaison between Lancelot and Guinevere, the deadly magic of Morgan le Fay, and Mordred’s ambition to rule Camelot.

The original trilogy was five years in the writing, during which time I learned a great deal about the ‘Lady of Shalott” and the legend (and history) of King Arthur. Please go to Workshops, Visits and Bookings for information about my talks to both students and adults on researching and writing the Shalott trilogy, with information about the legend, its historical background plus some famous sites associated with Arthur, all illustrated with a powerpoint presentation. Please also note the section Discussion Points for teachers and students.

‘This spellbinding story weaves together past and present to create a tale that is at once dark and dangerous, and tantalisingly dreamlike.’ Maggie Hamilton.

Shalott, the first novel in the trilogy, won the Society of Women Writers 2001 Book of the Year Award in the Young Adult Reader category.

Click Here to Check Shalott Cover

Glastonbury Tor – is this the tower of the Lady of Shalott? Could it be the Hollow Hill where King Arthur and his knights lie sleeping? Or is it the home of Gwynn-Ap-Nudd, Lord of the Underworld?

Other books in the trilogy:

  • Book 2. Shalott: Dangerous Magic (previously titled Return to Shalott.) As the Old Ways clash with the new, Morgan weaves her deadly magic to destroy Callie and her plans.
  • Book 3. Shalott: End Play (previously titled Shalott: The Final Journey.) Callie’s true quest finally becomes clear – but can she find the courage to change the future?

Why I wrote the books and why I’ve now updated them?
I wrote this trilogy quite by accident – after my dog, Bonnie, died. I’d been listening to a CD, The Visit, by Loreena McKennitt and, as we buried Bonnie in our garden, the music of one of the tracks on the CD, Tennyson’s wonderful poem, The Lady of Shalott, was going through my mind. I was heartbroken, and kept playing the CD for months after Bonnie died, until I started to become interested in the fate of the Lady of Shalott. Why was there a curse on her? Why, when she looked out of the window, was she fated to die? And from there, I started asking myself the ‘what if ..?’ questions that authors so often ask themselves. ‘What if it’s possible to go back in time and change history – or a legend?’ What if you’re creating part of that legend at the same time? What if, while you’re rewriting that legend, you’re actually rewriting your own life and destiny? And so I decided to write Shalott – but first, I had a whole lot of research to do into the legend of King Arthur – was he a real historical figure, or not?

While writing the novels, I spent some time in England following the Arthurian trail from the ruins of Tintagel Castle in Cornwall at the southern tip of England to ‘South Cadbury Castle’ and Caerleon, both favoured sites for Camelot, and of course I also visited Glastonbury Tor (or the ancient Island of Avalon) plus I went to Winchester to see the famous ‘Round Table’, with a depiction of Henry VIII at its head! I read many books (both fictional and otherwise) about Arthur, watched documentaries and movies and also looked at more ancient accounts including Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain (there’s a reference in Book 3) and Le Morte Darthur, Callie’s source of information in Book 1. I thought my brain was going to explode trying to cram in all that information! But I loved spending time with those mythical characters, as well as with my Australian teenagers, listening to their problems and trying to sort them out. (Yes, I hear voices sometimes; sometimes my characters even keep me awake with their chatter!) And because I love these characters so much, and because I had some new ideas about VR, gaming and the nature of magic, and because a LOT has changed since the first Shalott was published, I decided to do some rewriting – and so I produced this brand-new version of the SHALOTT TRILOGY!

This plaque commemorates the site where monks uncovered ‘the grave of King Arthur’ who was buried near the high altar at Glastonbury Abbey (which now lies in ruins.)

Audio version

An audio version of The Shalott trilogy is now available on CD through Louis Braille Audio – visit the website: www.louisbrailleaudio.com for further information.