This collection of four short stories (c6000 words) for young readers (8+) is set on the Isle of Mull, and stars three delightful guinea pig people. Two of them, Dylan and Dougall, were Jemima’s guinea pigs, and Deirdre came along to keep them company.
It starts with Dylan’s Yuletide Journey, although it’s the least magical. Dylan, the castle’s messenger, discovers some people doing strange things with stolen strawberry juice, and gets himself into big trouble. Dougall is in trouble for trying to find a substitute for strawberry juice in their power system, and ‘borrowing’ various items to test his theories. He’s probably justified, since they haven’t got enough power for a Yuletide hot meal!
After Deirdre saves Dylan from a fate worse than death – with the help of a mermaid – she’s with the brothers most of the time in their other adventures. In the third, Dougall helps a reindeer recover his compass, even though he doesn’t know what the reindeer means. And Deirdre shares the lead in the mysterious Dylan and the Lights of Ulva, which completes the quartet.
Buy the ebook
Buy the Messenger Misadventures: for the ebook of your choice on Amazon, Apple Books, B&N for Nook, Kobobooks, and Smashwords at the equivalent of $2.99.
Buy the paperback
Two versions of the paperback are available. To keep price down, the widely circulated version has illustrations in greyscale: check your favourite retailer or the links above. ISBN 978-1-03-466991-3
If you’d like the chapter illustrations in their original black/white or colour (as in the ebook) look on the Blurb website here. ISBN 978-1-03-467002-5
Browse the chapter illustrations [coming soon]
Jemima Pett's portfolio 