Kitty Slade
"Hey, I'm Kitty Slade. Just your average, normal girl, doing, you know, normal stuff. Got a brother (annoying), a sister (quite annoying) and a grandma (she's awesome). Oh yeah, and one more thing. I can see dead people."
When a ghost turns up in her biology classroom, only one thing's for sure - Kitty Slade's life is about to get freaky...
Where did you get the idea for the Kitty Slade books?
I started out wanting to write a series of mystery stories, along the lines of The Famous Five, only more up-to-date. Then I was looking at the start of a story I’d written about a ghost-busting boy, and I knew I wanted to incorporate that idea too, so what I ended up with was a bit more like a junior version of Ghost Whisperer
Unlike in The Famous Five stories, however, there's no dog. In fact, there aren't even five of them – only three: Kitty, her brother Sam, and her sister Flossie. But Kitty's the only one with phantorama (the ability to see ghosts), which is crucial because none of the mysteries can be solved without some sort of contact with dead people. And in case you were wondering why the Slade kids don't have a dog...well, think gang + camper van + ghosts + dog and you get this (right):
Like Lulu Baker and her magical recipe book, and Rorie Silk and her chameleon quality, Kitty’s phantorama develops at the age of thirteen. Why do my characters keep experiencing strange, massive changes at this time in their lives? Because we ALL go through huge changes at around that age, as we start to turn into adults (well, physically, at least!) That’s why this time of life interests me so much, and the changes are metaphorical.
Kitty Slade on location
Locations have been a major source of inspiration for the Kitty Slade books, and each story will take place in a different part of the UK.
Find out more about the locations for Divine Freaks, Fire and Roses or Venus Rocks
