The Quick Six Interview with Rebecca Fraser on Jonty’s Unicorn

Welcome to #TheQuickSixInterview with Rebecca Fraser!

We’re delighted to welcome back the talented award-winning author and editor, Rebecca Fraser (interview on Sea Glass) to share her latest middle grade novel; Jonty’s Unicorn. If you love speculative fiction and fantasies with an old-world charm, you’ll love this heart-racing, galloping adventure full of thrills and darkness in all the right places.

Thank you, Rebecca! We’re completely intrigued! 🙂 x

---

About the Author

Rebecca Fraser lives and writes on Bunurong Land. Her work has won, been shortlisted for, and honourably mentioned for numerous awards including Adaptable: Turning Page to Screen, The 2023 Readings Children’s Prize, Aurealis Awards, Australian Shadows Awards, Ditmars, and Mornington Peninsula Shire Mayor’s Writing Award. Rebecca’s publications include four middle grade novels, a collection of short fiction, and over sixty short stories, poems, and articles in various anthologies, journals, and magazines. (Forthcoming publications: junior fiction novel and young adult novel).

Rebecca chairs and participates in panels at festivals and facilitates author ‘in conversations’ at libraries. She has served as a convenor and on the judging panel of nationally-recognised literary competitions, and is proud to be an Ambassador for Australia Reads and a participant in the Australian Author Pen Pals program. 

Please find Rebecca Fraser and say g’day at her website: www.rebeccafraser.com and on Instagram | Facebook | X/Twitter | LinkedIn | TikTok.

Jonty’s Unicorn can be found at the IFWG Publishing website or purchased through Amazon.

---

WHO wrote and published this book?

Jonty’s Unicorn was written by me (Rebecca Fraser) and published by IFWG Publishing.

WHAT is it about?

In the quiet hamlet of Blaxby in the Kingdom of Irrawene, twelve-year-old Jonty Fairskye’s mother is gravely ill. A tonic from Dagatha, the fearsome witch who dwells in the dark heart of the Terrenwild Woods may be her only hope, but everyone knows Dagatha’s cures cost dearly ― both in gold and regret.

Determined to save her mother, Jonty resolves to enter the King’s Annual Horse Race on her beloved horse, Onyx. The prize, a pouch of gold ― more than enough to pay Dagatha. When Jonty discovers Rose, an injured unicorn, during a woodland training session, she is wonderstruck. There hasn’t been a unicorn sighting in Irrawene for over a century. Jonty smuggles Rose back to the safety of her barn to recover.

As the great horse race draws closer, disaster strikes and Jonty is forced to make a decision that will impact the lives of everyone she loves. Danger and betrayal lurk around every corner, and Jonty will learn that the true meaning of kindness and bravery comes down to how much you’re willing to sacrifice.

Racing Stripes meets The Brothers Grimm in this page-turning fantasy for readers who love thrilling adventures.

What is your favourite part of this book?

The scene of the actual horse race itself, and the subsequent fallout when spectators, competitors, and the King realise a unicorn has been ridden in place of a horse was one of my favourite parts to write. It’s full of tension and drama, and your heart beats a little quicker wondering how Jonty can possibly turn the situation around.

The villain in Jonty’s Unicorn, Dagatha, is a fearsome witch who lives in the dark heart of the Terrenwild Woods. She was my favourite character to write. There are so many layers to Dagatha. It’s easy to see why she is so reviled in the book…but what made her this way? Dagatha’s back story is a tale that I’m one day keen to tell.

WHEN did you begin writing this book?

Jonty’s Unicorn actually started out as a 10,000-word rhyming verse novel back in 2019!

 After feedback from publishers, who loved the concept but felt it wasn’t commercial enough in its current format, I rewrote it as a prose novel, and it was picked up by IFWG Publishing, who specialise in speculative, young adult and middle grade fiction.

When was its release / launch date?

Jonty’s Unicorn galloped into bookstores on 1 April.

WHERE did the inspiration for this book come from?

The idea of a unicorn entering a horse race came to me while taking a shower one day (the birthplace of many a plot and character!) and simply refused to leave.

When I’d worked out what the internal and external conflicts were for protagonist, Jonty, and her accidental unicorn steed, Rose, the rest of the story took shape around them… I just never realised how high their stakes would be.

WHY is this book meaningful to you?

Jonty’s Unicorn is the sort of book I loved to read as a little girl (and still do)! Fantasy is the ultimate escapism, a portal to another world – or a world within our own – where relatable issues and themes are explored with a heightened sense of wonder and adventure, navigating external quests and conflicts that mirror our own internal obstacles and journeys of self-discovery.

To introduce kids to fantasy, or as a gateway read to get them excited about exploring other fantasy or speculative fiction books, is a high honour indeed.

Why would its message resonate with readers?

I believe the ‘good triumphs over evil’ trope is one which will remain timeless, especially in a world that is increasingly seeming to be run and overrun by unscrupulous villains!

In Jonty, readers will find relatable character traits—both virtues and flaws—that will resonate. She is loyal, a good friend, and has a quick mind she uses to outwit and outplay her opponents when it counts the most. She is also naïve and too trusting, and a little on the impulsive side, and these traits also work against her when it counts the most.

Prince Talon, the son of Kind Reynard of Briarbrae who holds the Annual Horse Race every year, is a character who carries the gently flowing theme of animal rights and animal activism. Many young readers have commented that they wholeheartedly agree with his ethical stance and advocacy, and this has been such gratifying feedback to receive as it is something close to my heart too.

HOW do you feel about the illustrations / cover design? How do they convey the feeling or mood you envisioned?

The cover art / full wrap is an original oil illustration by award-winning fantasy illustrator Sarah Morrison. I feel so fortunate to have been matched with her. One reviewer commented that “she perfectly and correctly captures the darkness and the light – the essence of the story”.

The front cover depicts Jonty and Rose as they overlook Briarbrae Castle, and the back cover blends into the dark and dangerous Terrenwild Woods where Dagatha lurks, foreshadowing darkness and betrayal. It’s such a well-considered design!

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

It’s most actively being promoted on social media / online KidLit content at the moment and has been so far really well received on the review circuit. (Phew!)

I’ll be appearing at Western Port Writes Writers Festival in September and will be doing a reading and of Jonty’s Unicorn, along with a children’s activity alongside the fabulous Wendy Orr who will be reading from her latest novel Honey and the Valley of the Horses. We are teaming up for an entertaining equine extravaganza!

Jonty’s Unicorn is available in all good bookstores, so support your favourite local book shop, or library. Or you can find it online, and as an eBook.

OTHER information or experiences you’d like to share?

I’ve been thrilled with the response from Teacher / Librarians who have reviewed Jonty’s Unicorn and identified ways that the story engages, connects and encourages conversation and learning opportunities. As example:

“…Beautifully descriptive, here, in words alone, are all the things that have been imagined and now they can read them for themselves and solidify that platform they have built, perhaps even extending their reading by seeking others in the same genre.  

It also has the classic plot structure of a novel for younger readers with problems, possible solutions, complications and suspense to the final resolution making it an ideal way to introduce this longer format and the value in persevering rather than expecting the story to be done and dusted in one sitting like a picture book or television episode, while the underlying perennial message of being resilient and standing up for what is right is also strong as it carries the story along.”

(The Bottom Shelf)

Thanks so much, Rebecca! All the best of success with your fantastical new adventure! 🙂

#thequicksixinterview #jontysunicorn #speculativefiction #fantasy #middlegrade #justkidslit