My new, Greek mythology-inspired children's adventure, The Odyssey of Phoebe Quilliam officially sets sail this week. It's the story of a young girl who finds herself transported by strange magic into a world that resembles her favourite Greek myth, the legend of Odysseus, and has to battle many monsters - both the fantastical kind and the ones you carry inside of yourself - in order to get home. It's the most personal book I've written and I'm ecstatic that it's been chosen as the Blackwell's Children's Book of the Month for September. The lovely of Mr Bs Emporium in Bath have also made it the book of the month for their Torchlit Tales kids subscription for September. Having given a preview of Phoebe's story at the Chalke Valley History Festival this summer, I'm looking forward to visiting lots of schools over the coming months to talk about myths and monsters, and maybe inspire some children to go and read the Odyssey itself - I'm a huge fan of retellings by the likes of Gillian Cross and Geraldine McCaughrean. In the meantime, Dido, Porcellus and all the gang from my Circus Maximus series are very much not forgotten and I'll be talking about them as part of the children's programme at the Isle of Wight Literary Festival in October.