THE LUCKY HOUSE DETECTIVE AGENCY IS NOW OPEN!
Happy Lunar New Year! I’ve been keeping this secret but now I can share that my cosy crime middle grade book - The Lucky House Detective Agency - written with Storymix, illustrated by Sian James and published by Knights Of, will be available from June 5, 2025! Writing as Scarlett Li, the story follows Felix and his best friend Isaac, who love mysteries and can't wait to open their own detective agency. Celebrating community, friendship and family, the story centres the British-Chinese immigrant experience. I can’t wait for readers to enter the Lucky House Takeaway and follow Felix and Isaac as they embark upon their very first detective case!
MURMUR: Murdoch University Alumni Magazine
Many things have contributed to me becoming an author, one of those being the Reading & Writing elective I took with Deborah Robertson when studying at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia. I’d always loved writing (and reading) but when I emerged from this course, I had a whole new understanding and passion for the art and craft of writing. It still took me a very long time to take writing seriously but I got there in the end. When I was invited to feature in the 50th birthday edition of Murdoch University’s alumni magazine, Mumur, I did not think twice. It was a chance to pay homage to the great time I had studying and working at Murdoch and to some of the key educators who influenced me there. You can read the article here
LAND OF THE LAST WILDCAT
My debut middle-grade book, Land of the Last Wildcat, was announced in the trade press today. Aimed at readers aged 9-11, it will be published by Macmillan Children’s Books in May 2025. I’ve been waiting a year for this announcement to happen and now the cat is out of the bag, so to speak. This book is the first book I ever tried to write. The reason it has gotten this far is twofold. Firstly it’s down to the support I have had from so many people and writing organisations - just thinking about it makes me feel tearful. Secondly I could not let my character, Puffin, down and shove her in the ‘shelved’ drawer. I’m so happy I persisted for now she is far from being shelved (apart from a bookshelf). I hope you enjoy meeting her and the kuri wildcat when they emerge in paperback in 2025. A list of pre-order sites are available: here
GIANT
Leicester Short Story Competition 2023
At this time of year, when night comes early, I often see flickers of movement out of the corners of my eyes. Whether it’s the iridescent spasms from the overflow of Christmas lights or daylight speckling through a dirty window, things that were once solid, begin to waver. This mood reminds me of Giant, a short story I wrote where two characters see the world very differently. Are you on the boy’s side, or his Mum’s? Here it is.
During the on-off lockdown years, I visited the Royal Academy with friends. I don’t remember the exhibition we saw , only the spectacle around going. The masks, the staggered entry, the clear delineation of where to stand and not stand. Amidst this, I spotted an elderly gallery attendant sitting on an uncomfortable looking stool. What is he thinking? I wondered. In a room full of priceless art, he was the most interesting. I wrote a story about him, called, Still Life which was shortlisted in the 2023 Leicester Short Story competition. It will be published in the competition anthology so I hope you get to read about Bobby (that’s what I called him) and find out what he was thinking…
Is Nature a Gigantic Cat?
I subscribe to Letters of Note which means a weekly historical letter pops into my inbox. A recent arrival was written by Nikolai Tesla, scientist extraordinaire, known for his contributions to our understanding of electricity and electrical transmission. What I didn’t know was that Tesla was a cat lover. His letter was about Macak, his giant cat who planted the seeds for Tesla’s fascination with electricity. Below is an [abridged] excerpt:
Now I must tell you a strange and unforgettable experience that stayed with me all my life. It happened that one day the cold was drier than ever before. People walking in the snow left a luminous trail behind them, and a snowball thrown against an obstacle gave a flare of light like a loaf of sugar cut with a knife. In the dusk of the evening, as I stroked Macak’s back, I saw a miracle that made me speechless with amazement. Macak’s back was a sheet of light and my hand produced a shower of sparks loud enough to be heard all over the house.
My father was a very learned man; he had an answer for every question. But this phenomenon was new even to him. “Well,” he finally remarked, “this is nothing but electricity, the same thing you see through the trees in a storm.”
My mother seemed charmed. “Stop playing with this cat,” she said. “He might start a fire.” But I was thinking abstractedly. Is nature a gigantic cat? If so, who strokes its back? Here I was, only three years old and already philosophising.
However stupefying the first observation, something still more wonderful was to come. It was getting darker, and soon the candles were lighted. Macak took a few steps through the room. Did I see something or was it an illusion? I strained my eyes and perceived distinctly that his body was surrounded by a halo like the aureola of a saint!
I cannot exaggerate the effect of this marvellous night on my childish imagination. Day after day I have asked myself “what is electricity?” and found no answer. Eighty years have gone by since that time and I still ask the same question…
This letter captured my imagination for Macak reminds me very much of a character in my debut MG book where I also ask a similar question….is nature (within) a gigantic cat?