The Quick Six Interview with Helen Castles on Scoop McLaren

Welcome to #TheQuickSixInterview with Helen Castles!

It’s a pleasure to welcome children’s author, Helen Castles, to the blog! Helen is here to discuss her fun, captivating series for junior readers (and writers!), Scoop McLaren: Detective Editor, and in particular, the second title, Waves of Mystery. Keep your eyes open and pens ready to uncover more about these exciting mysteries…

Thanks for joining us, Helen! 🙂

About the Author

Helen Castles lives in southern New South Wales and is a newspaper journalist and children’s author.

Her loves include coffee, chocolate, cuddling puppies and holidaying near the ocean.

When she’s not chasing up a real-life news story, she’s writing about the adventures of feisty detective editor, Scoop McLaren.

Follow Helen on Twitter and Instagram: @helen_castles

WHO wrote, illustrated and published this book?

Scoop McLaren: Waves of Mystery was written by Helen Castles, illustrated by Beatriz Castro and published by New Frontier Publishing.

WHAT is it called and what is it about?

Scoop McLaren: Waves of Mystery is the second book in the Scoop McLaren: Detective Editor series.

Scoop is a feisty and determined 13-year-old who has her own online newspaper, Click!. Together with her best friend and roving reporter, Evie Andrews, they solve mysteries in their sleepy seaside town of Higgity Harbour.

In Waves of Mystery, the girls set out to uncover just who (or what!) is trying to stop their friend Fletcher from winning the harbour’s most prestigious junior surfing competition.

With the introduction of more intriguing characters, there’s lots of twists and turns in this page-turner, and readers will be kept guessing until the very end!

WHEN is its release / launch date?

Scoop McLaren: Waves of Mystery was released on October 1, 2020.

WHERE did the inspiration for this book come from?

I am a busy newspaper journalist through the day, so the inspiration for Scoop came from my own career.

I wanted the book to be both entertaining and fun for readers while still projecting the message of how important it is to be well informed in the world we live in.

WHY is this book meaningful to you and why would its message resonate with readers?

The book is meaningful to me because I think sometimes the media gets a bad wrap, but here you have a dedicated journalist like Scoop who is full of integrity and believes in the importance of every citizen’s right to know the truth. I think she sets a great example for budding young journalists.

After the first book in the series was released last year, I was so heartened when visiting schools and libraries to see that young readers are very interested in knowing what is going on in the world around them.

I think now, more than ever, as we live through a global pandemic, we’ve seen just how vital it is to keep up-to-date with the latest news and information, and how important a job like Scoop’s really is.

HOW have you promoted this book and how can we find it?

I’ve done interviews, videos and written blog posts, and been on a podcast. Normally, I would be out and about in schools, libraries and book stores doing promotion in the lead up to the launch and afterwards, but COVID-19 has put a dampener on that. Still, thanks to technology, no one is ever really far away, my wonderful readers included, so I’m currently trying to reach as much of them as I can while still keeping us all safe.

You can find Scoop McLaren: Waves of Mystery online and in book stores. If your favourite book store does not have it in stock, they will order it in for you.

Scoop McLaren: Waves of Mystery is available for purchase at New Frontier Publishing | Booktopia

#scoopmclaren #wavesofmystery #juniorfiction