Image Credits:-
Many thanks to Esther Chilton for supplying book cover and author shots. Images from The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick were taken by me, Allison Symes. Other images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images or images supplied by Esther Chilton.
It is a great privilege and pleasure to welcome Esther Chilton to Chandler’s Ford Today. Esther is a fellow flash fiction writer, a tutor for the Writers’ Bureau, runs workshops and goes to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, which, naturally, is where we met. She will be running a course on flash fiction there this year.
But as well as writing for adults, Esther also writes for children in the 5 to 7 years old category. Her new book, The Secret Dragon, comes out on 25th July.
Author Bio
Esther has been a freelance writer for over twenty years, regularly writing articles and short stories for magazines and newspapers such as Writers’ Forum, Writing Magazine, The Guardian, Best of British, The Cat, This England, Yours and The People’s Friend.
Winner of several competitions, including those run by Writing Magazine and The Global Short Story Contest, she has also had the privilege of judging writing competitions and relished being given the role of head judge of the Writers’ Forum monthly short story competition.
Esther loves writing but equally enjoys helping others, which she achieves in her role as a tutor for The Writers Bureau. She also runs their monthly writing club, Let’s Write.
She has had two how-to books on writing published as well as two collections of short stories. Her first children’s book is coming out in July, where she writes under the name of Esther Moonstomp.
Blurb For The Secret Dragon
When Saffy discovers a dragon statue at the bottom of her garden, her boring summer holiday becomes full of excitement.
The statue is a real dragon called Lily. She’s from the magical world of Mandoreum, a place that’s in danger and in need of Saffy’s help.
There are clues to solve, a wicked witch to battle and secrets to be kept at all costs. Will Saffy be able to save Mandoreum before it’s too late?
Now it’s been a very long time since I was aged between 5 and 7 but I say the blurb sounds intriguing.
Extract From The Secret Dragon
“Fairy Godfather Freddie said the word ‘bench’.” Saffy frowned in concentration. “You were by my bench when I first saw you. But you can’t have the same bench in Mandoreum, can you?”
“It’s a magical bench – a gateway between the human world and our world. I always thought it was a very ordinary bench,” Lily said.
“So did I!” Saffy chuckled.
“But as soon as Fairy Godfather Freddie cast the counter-spell, I knew exactly where to go. I made it with five Mandoreum minutes to spare. It wasn’t easy as I couldn’t fly any more,” Lily said, looking at her broken wings.
What did she mean by ‘five Mandoreum minutes’? Saffy wondered. That seemed an odd way of putting it.
Saffy thought about the bench again. She couldn’t believe it. Right there, in her garden, was a gateway to a new world!
Many thanks, Esther, for sharing an extract from The Secret Dragon. But now it’s question time.
Welcome to Chandler’s Ford Today, Esther, and many congratulations on the forthcoming publication of The Secret Dragon, due out on 28th July 2025.
1. Esther, what is the background to The Secret Dragon? What inspired you? I’ve always loved fairytales and they do influence at least some of what I write. Is that the case for you here? Did you decide you wanted to write for the 5 to 7 age range so came up with the story idea or did you have the idea for the story first and then realised it had to be for this age group? Did you illustrate the book as well?
The idea for The Secret Dragon first came to me when my daughter was small and I was reading stories to her. The image of a little dragon that had come from a magical world and who needed help started appearing in my mind and refused to go away. I was immersed in the world of children’s books for this age group and so I knew that’s where the story needed to sit.
I’ve always loved fairytales and still have a book of Dean’s Fairytales from my childhood. I now read them to my partner’s grandchildren. It’s great to share magical stories. I hope parents and grandparents do that with mine.
The book isn’t illustrated by myself – sadly I’m hopeless at drawing! But the publisher has some wonderful illustrators they use, and they’ve certainly done my book proud.
2. Given you write for adults, how hard was it to write for such a different audience? Also I note you’re using the name Esther Moonstomp (great choice!) for this one. Is that to separate out your writing for children from your writing for adults? How easy or otherwise did you find it to come up with a suitable pen name? What was the inspiration for that?
Writing for children, and for such a young age group, is very different to writing for adults. You have to be mindful of the language you use, including vocabulary and sentence and paragraph construction/lengths. A lot of research and referencing to books for this age group has been a must.
I wanted a different name for my children’s books to separate my writing for adults. I couldn’t come up with a good name and then one came in the most unexpected place: a hospital. I needed an operation and during my pre-op, there was a lovely nurse who said she loved the name Esther. Her daughter’s name wasn’t Esther, but she called her daughter her little Esther Moonstomp. I thought what a brilliant name for a children’s author!
3. Please tell us something about your writing journey to date, especially your involvement with The Writers’ Bureau and what you have learned from your journey to date.
I’ve always loved writing, right from when I was at school, but I didn’t ever think I’d be making a career from it. When I was in my early 20s, I had an accident and injured my back. It was while I was recovering that I saw an advert for The Writers Bureau.
I felt I had nothing to lose and started their comprehensive course. That was the point of a complete career change. I went from working with numbers in a bank to working with words. During my study with The Writers Bureau, I started to have articles and stories published. I also won a few writing competitions.
It all built from there and several years later, I became a tutor for The Writers Bureau. I’ve now been tutoring with them for sixteen years and I’m currently writing some courses for them.
The main point I’ve learned through them is to research your market thoroughly. You stand more chance of having your work accepted if you do.
4. I understand The Secret Dragon is Book 1 of a series. Can you share more about the series? What do you think are the joys and challenges of writing a series, especially one for a younger audience? Is there particular pressure to “not get it wrong” because children can and do see right through that? What aspects of the story did you enjoy writing most?
The Secret Dragon is Book one of six. It takes children on a magical quest where clues need to be solved over the course of the six books. It’s been an exciting time to create an adventure series for young readers. They have to do comprehension at school, which they don’t enjoy, and I want Saffy’s Secret Quest to remind them that reading and stories are fun. So, yes, that’s not easy and it’s a balance getting it right.
I enjoyed developing the friendship between the two main characters – Saffy and Lily, the dragon. I also wanted the message it doesn’t matter what you look like to flow through the series.
5. I always ask this one for writers new to Chandler’s Ford Today. Can you share three marketing tips and, separately, three writing tips you have found helpful?
Marketing tips
1. Make sure you invest in a good book cover. It’s the first thing that attracts readers.
2. Ask readers for reviews. They make your book more visible.
3. Think about the use of keywords. They’re so important these days in making your book visible.
Writing tips
1. Put yourself in your characters’ shoes; it’ll make them more realistic and connect the reader to them.
2. Use the senses in your writing. They immerse the reader in your story, but don’t overdo them.
3. Don’t edit as you write. Get the words down and then you can edit afterwards.
6. Who are your favourite writers and why? Which writing guides have you found helpful? I adore Stephen King’s On Writing.
I like all sorts of books, from Philip Pullman, to Stephen King, to Deborah Harkness, to Jane Austen. Characters are so important to me, so if I don’t connect with the characters, I don’t like the book. I also like to be taken along on an adventure with the characters.
In terms of writing guides, I don’t think you can beat Stephen King’s On Writing.
7. The Marmite question, Esther, or at least I find it is. Do you like editing or not? Which editing tips have you found useful? (And for those who think a smaller book needs less editing time, think again. The tighter the word count, and this applies to flash too, can mean the editing takes longer. Why? Simply because you have to make every word count and it is a question of going over each phrase several times and asking yourself is this the best I can do here? Trust me, that takes time).
I don’t mind editing. Though you have to know when to step away from your writing as you can edit it forever!
Allison: True. I find having competition deadlines helps here. I have to get my pieces off somewhere!
8. How did you discover The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick and what have you found most helpful about it?
I discovered the writing school through a committee member who I met at a writing event in London. He suggested I pitch a workshop to them and so I looked into it and sent them an idea for a workshop, which was accepted. I’ve taught there for the last five years and love the community feel.
9. How do you hope the series will work out? Will you be going to schools as a visiting author? Have you done this before and, if so, how much preparation do you need to do ahead of an author visit?
I hope to get involved in visiting different schools. I’m already a Literacy Volunteer so I go into a local primary school to help children with their reading, which I hope to build on.
10. Last but not least, please do share other writing news.
As well as the children’s book series, I’ve been working on a series of writers’ guides. Two have already been published (Publication Guaranteed (well, almost) and Short Story Focus) and a third is written (Novel Know-how), and will hopefully come out later this year.
Conclusion
Many thanks, Esther, for a fabulous interview and good luck with The Secret Dragon. I almost wish I was in the target age range for the book!
Esther Chilton – Social Media and Buy Links
Blogs:-
https://estherchilton.co.uk
Buy links:-
UK: Paperback: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Dragon-Saffys-Quest/dp/1836283881
Social media links: –
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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What an informative article. I have a lot to learn, and I find Esther’s blog site a great resource for this. This is a fantastic interview.
Thank you, Ernest. The interview was a joy to put together.
I enjoyed this interview, Allison and Esther. I think Esther has a bright future as a children’s author, and it was nice to hear she will be doing more.
Many thanks, John.
A most enjoyable interview with Esther Chilton. I am looking forward to reading this book. I love children’s books and always find them great fun to read even now as a mother of two grown sons. Great tips for marketing and writing.
Thank you, Robbie.
Excellent interview!
Thank you, Dawn.
I enjoyed this interview very much, Allison and Esther! Children of this age range love dragon books. My 7-year-old granddaughter read almost every book in the Dragon Masters series. Books 27 and 28 are not in the local library yet. So she started other dragon series, such as Dragon Girl, etc. I wish the best for Esther’s The Secret Dragon and other books. The marketing tips and writing tips are excellent.
Many thanks, Miriam.