'Unusual' treasure hunt launches across Lancashire as local author reveals new book
Lancashire-based author Kate Simkins launches a unique treasure hunt across the county, inviting readers to join a magical society linked to her new fantasy novel.
A Lancashire author has launched an ‘unusual’ literary treasure hunt across the county to celebrate the upcoming release of her new fantasy novel.
Kate Simkins, founder of independent publisher Big Thinking Publishing, has hidden mysterious ravens in locations including Waterstones Preston, HMV Preston and Booths Garstang, each bearing a QR code that invites people to join a ‘secret magical society’.
Scanning the code grants readers their ‘letter of admission’ to Darkwell Academy, a mysterious school from the world of Simkins’ upcoming novel The Wonderchild, the first book in the new Brightwell Chronicles series.
The novel arrives from the Garstang-based publisher this April, and the first 100 pre-orders will be personally signed by the author.
The Brightwell Chronicles follow twelve-year-old Arlo Thorne, who discovers he has been summoned to Brightwell Academy — a magical school hidden from the ordinary world.
To introduce readers to the wider universe of the series, Simkins has created the parallel institution Darkwell Academy, a more mysterious sister school said to exist within the Fae Realm.
Visitors who accept their ‘invitation’ are warned that travelling between the worlds carries unusual risks, including sensory distortion, reverse speech, personality shimmer and the possibility of leaving fragments of memory behind.
Simkins said: “The Brightwell Chronicles is a big magical universe, so we wanted to give people a way to step into it. If you spot a raven, you might just find yourself recruited by Darkwell.”