The books were published by Orion in April and are the first books written and illustrated by Kate although she has been published as an illustrator many times before!
I asked Kate how she came to write the Mariella books?
"The writing came about after I illustrated the cover for the Ghostly Guinea Pig as an illustration sample to send to publishers, just to show how I'd deal with a front cover illustration should they be looking to commission an illustrator. The agent I'm with sent the illustration round to a few places and the question was asked; was there a story to go with her ..."
I'd thought about who Mariella was and what world she lived in whilst doing the illustration so when I had the chance to present to a few publishers I pulled everything together and did a couple of illustrated sample chapters – and what do you know? Got myself a four book deal!
Bit of a shock as I didn't and still don't really think of myself as a 'writer'."
Did she enjoy the process of being both writer and illustrator?
"It's been the best process ever, I've worked closely with a really talented editor at Orion who has supported me to pull the stories into shape and I've had SO much more control that I'd normally get over the design and illustration layout. There's about 250 illustrations in each book so editing, designing and illustrating them has been intense but amazing fun!
I've actually found writing a book this length is loads easier than trying to capture everything in 500 words for a picture book. I'm working on the third title now which is the Huge Hair Scare and the working title for the fourth book is The Curse of the Pampered Poodle."
I've actually found writing a book this length is loads easier than trying to capture everything in 500 words for a picture book. I'm working on the third title now which is the Huge Hair Scare and the working title for the fourth book is The Curse of the Pampered Poodle."
Mariella Mystery Investigates "The Ghostly Guinea Pig" and "A Cupcake Conundrum" are available now from all good bookshops!!!
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