Half Wild (31 page)

Half Wild
is my second published book, and writing (and rewriting and rewriting) it was a completely different experience from that of
Half Bad
. I really must plan my next story a lot more before I jump in. I’m extremely grateful to everyone in the great teams at Puffin and Viking for their help in getting this story out of my head and on the bookshelves—and not just bookshelves in the UK and US but around the world (even in places I have to Google to find out where they are). As always my agent Claire Wilson has been a star.

In case you’re interested, the quote “I see wars, horrid wars, and the Tiber foaming with much blood” is a translation of Virgil’s
Aeneid
, “bella, horrida bella, et Thybrim multo spumantem sanguine cerno” (6.86–87), which I found as a result of reading through Enoch Powell’s “Rivers of Blood” speech, and then looking up (with the help of Google) the original “river of blood” quote. I think it is more appropriate in
Half Wild
than as mistakenly used by Powell (http://edithorial.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/how-enoch-powell-got-vergil-wrong.html).

European travel is a great thing and I did hope to do at least some in my research for
Half Wild
. Sadly time was not on my side so I had to rely on my memory of places (Spain, Basle, that lake with the iceberg in Norway), Google, and the AA’s online Route Planner for all my fictional journey routes and times.

Thanks, too, to all the lovely, friendly
Half Bad
fans and my followers on Twitter, and especially those who helped with the names for my White Witches. I received ideas from the following: Lisa Gelinas @InkdMomof3; Jan P. @janhpa; Caitlin @caitlingss; Charli @Charli_TAW; Artifact #1 @themefrompinata; Daniel Rowland @danialii; Fiction Fascination @F_Fascination; Oswaldo Reyes @readers WRITER; Emily Ringborg @RingEmily; Colleen Conway @colleenaconway; Damien Glynn @damog7; Finlay and Ivor @tmbriggs; Jo Porter @joanneporter_1; Caroline Pomfret @CazPom.

But I eventually chose the names:

– Sameen, suggested by MSA @MsaMsa85;

– Olivia, suggested by Renee Dechert @sreneed;

– Claudia, suggested by Jayd Amber @dragonslibrary.

I hope I’ve included everyone. Apologies if I’ve missed you off that list.

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