Ten years ago Kate Winters’ parents were taken by the High Council’s wardens to help with the country’s war effort.

Now the wardens are back...and prisoners, including Kate's uncle Artemis, are taken south on the terrifying Night Train. Kate and her friend Edgar are hunted by a far more dangerous enemy. Silas Dane – the High Council’s most feared man – recognises Kate as one of the Skilled; a rare group of people able to see through the veil between the living and the dead. His spirit was damaged by the High Council’s experiments into the veil, and he’s convinced that Kate can undo the damage and allow him to find peace.

The knowledge Kate needs lies within Wintercraft – a book thought to be hidden deep beneath the graveyard city of Fume. But the Night of Souls, when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest, is just days away and the High Council have their own sinister plans for Kate and Wintercraft.

Jenna Burtenshaw has been writing regularly since she was nine years old. She grew up reading stories by Roald Dahl, but it was her morning walk to school
through a graveyard that first interested her in gothic writing and the supernatural. She is a vegetarian and is very passionate about animal welfare – she once ran a shelter for sick and unwanted guinea pigs, which often had more than fifty residents at one time.

What makes you laugh out loud?
Old episodes of classic comedy like Blackadder & Father Ted.  Bill Brysons travel books.  Any movie with Jim Carrey in it.  My brother, Adam.

Sweet or savoury?
I could lean either way on this, but the sheer deliciousness of homemade biscuits clinches it for the sweet camp. 

Whats your ideal way to spend a Saturday?
A sleep in, followed by a slow breakfast and a long walk by the river with my dogs.  Writing in the afternoon, then a night out at the theatre or cinema watching something that pulls me completely into another world.        

Are you an early bird or night owl?
Definitely a night owl.  I hardly ever go to bed before 2am and I am a menace on a morning.  Anyone who knows me accepts that I am basically a moody, grunting zombie anytime before midday.   

Which film can reduce you to tears?
There are some Disney films I will never go near again.  Dumbo, Bambi, and even Dinosaur.  Putting on any of those films is a sure fire way to get me out of the room and dont even mention Ice Age when Manny recalls his familys death at the hands of hunters. (Its a great movie, but I sneak off to get a coffee during that bit!)  I can watch disaster movies, dramas, anything else, but kids movies are killers.  

Do you have any phobias?
None that I have discovered yet, but there is always time!  Heights dont particularly bother me, but you would never get me to go bungee jumping or skydiving.  I think the vice-grip-of-death would come into play the moment I was supposed to jump!

What three words best describe you?
Independent.  Friendly.  Curious.

What makes the best midnight snack?
Hot chocolate made with proper melted chocolate & milk (not those instant mixes that just taste like washing up water), and a homemade oat and cranberry biscuit or two!  Yum. 

Who is your most embarrassing celebrity crush?
This is too embarrassing I dont want to say!  All right Patrick Stewart particularly in his Canterville Ghost days.  Perhaps even in his Canterville Ghost costume complete with odd facial hair.  Dont judge me!  *hides*

Whats the weirdest thing thats ever happened to you?
When I was a teenager I took part in a theatre show put together in 24 hours at my local theatre.  I had short purple hair and was given some weird old flares to wear that were way too small for me, dug out from the dark depths of the costume department.  We were allowed one hours sleep on a freezing cold ballroom floor a few hours before the performance.  When the show began the theatre was full, Id managed to have no sleep at all, and the whole thing went by in a surreal half-asleep blur.  Being on stage was great, but all I wanted to do was get home and snooze.  Definitely a weird experience.

 

SILAS DANE
Taken into warden training at a young age, Silas Dane has handed his life over completely to the service and protection of Albion 's High Council. A man who once valued honour above all else, Silas rose to become leader of Albion 's wardens and served in the ongoing war with the Continent until an experiment into the depths of the veil tore his spirit in two.

Now, his soul broken, but possessing the ability to heal swiftly from illness and injury, Silas travels across Albion collecting people and items deemed valuable to the High Council. But living with a torn spirit has taken its toll upon Silas, making him cruel and vicious. He ruins lives without conscience and thinks nothing of murdering those who stand in the way of his work.

His presence instils fear in those he meets. His eyes are as grey as death, and he has barely aged a day since the experiment that changed him twelve years ago. A loyal crow is his constant companion and the only living creature he truly trusts as he searches for a way to rejoin his broken soul.

EDGAR RILL
Edgar moved to Kate's town three years ago and has worked with her in the bookshop ever since. The two of them have become close friends, but Edgar's life before he came to Morvane remains a mystery. He lives alone and has never spoken about his past or his family, so Kate has never asked.

Edgar is seventeen years old. He is friendly and outgoing, and can be nervous under pressure, but he is brave when he needs to be. He has dark eyes, wild black hair and a wicked sense of humour.

His friendship with Kate is very important to him and he treats Kate and her uncle Artemis as family. But Edgar will not be able to keep his secrets to himself for much longer, and when Kate discovers the truth about his early life, it could threaten their friendship and change the way she sees him forever.

KATE WINTERS
At fifteen years old, Kate has spent most of her life living and working in her family's bookshop. Since her parents' deaths at the hands of the wardens ten years ago, Kate has been brought up by her uncle Artemis, a cautious man, who has tried to keep her safe from the dangerous world outside the shop's front door.

Kate is tall for her age with long dark hair and bright blue feline eyes. Fiercely protective of her uncle and her best friend, Edgar, she will do anything to help the people she loves. She is intelligent and adaptable but, until she encounters Wintercraft, Kate has no idea that she is one of the Skilled: a group of rare people born with the ability to see into the veil between life and death.

This ability makes her useful to people in power within Albion, and as she tries to come to terms with what being one of the Skilled could mean, she attracts attention from people desperate to use her for their own ends.

EXTRACT: WINTERCRAFT (Download Pdf)