Welcome
My first three books for children were published by The Book Guild Ltd.
Ben and the Spider Gate, Ben and the Spider Prince, and Ben and the Spider Lake are a series of three independent stories with the same central characters and similar themes.
The Captain’s Favourite Treasure, published by Matador, is a picture book.
My latest publication, The Fractured Globe, published by Darkstroke Books, is a full-length novel which explores why people behave the way that they do, through the lives of two single mums. It will be launched on 3rd December 2020 (More details below).
About Me
I was born in Cardiff, South Wales and grew up in Tongwynlais, a village some five miles north of the capital.
Castell Coch (Red Castle) designed by William Burges for John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, the 3rd Marquis of Bute (1870s/80s) stands on a hill overlooking the village and I guess this fairy-tale castle was the inspiration for a number of my earliest experiments with storytelling and writing. My parents encouraged me in my love of books and reading has played a big part in my life. There’s no specific genre that I favour – I’ll read anything that (I consider) is well written!
As for the writing side of things – well, that was less of a constant initially, as I had no real focus for it. Most of my creative energies went into English essays. It wasn’t until I returned as a full-time (mature) Humanities student that I had the opportunity to both study, and participate in, Creative Writing. Most of my energies were directed towards poetry, although I did have some minor success with a short story competition. Over the following years I had poems accepted for publication in magazines, together with a critical article on the work of the Welsh writer, Menna Gallie. In 2014/2015, I was awarded both a runner-up prize and a highly commended place in Writers’ Forum magazine poetry competition.
It was only after I took early retirement from my job as Principal Lecturer/Director of the Wales Centre for Intergenerational Practice, at the University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales), that I returned to writing prose and began experimenting with writing for children. In 2014, Ben and the Spider Gate, was accepted for publication by Book Guild Publishing Ltd.
I am a member of the Society of Authors and the Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators (UK).
The Fractured Globe
Nature? Nurture? Or just plain luck?
Single mums, Tia and Kay, meet when their sons are born on the same day.
Tia is a product of the welfare system but wants a better life for her son. Her entrapment by her manipulative and controlling boyfriend in the world of drink, drugs, crime and enforced prostitution suggests otherwise. Is she a ‘born devil’ or can she change and break free?
Kay comes from a stable home but sacrifices it all, initially, to live her own kind of life.
Overshadowed by betrayals, mistakes, regrets, and the mystery of an abandoned child, their paths – and those of their families – run parallel or criss-cross over twenty-five years.
The Fractured Globe is available on Amazon (paperback and eBook).
Can determination and the power of the snow globe offer a chance of happiness?
Ben and the Spider Gate
Ben loves chatting to his wise gran, playing computer games with his best friend Jess, and helping his dad to train his clever dog Scoot. Best of all though, he likes playing ball in the garden with Scoot.
Then one hot summer day Ben meets Lox, the gate-keeper of the spider kingdom under the garden hedge. Lox desperately needs Ben’s help before the end of the autumn, but can Ben save the spider kingdom without leaving the garden and going into the deep, dark wood?The leaves are starting to fall, and Ben and Jess must take a brave decision if the spiders are to have a safe winter.
Talking to Gran, Ben begins to suspect that she might know more about his quest than she’s admitting.
Signed hardback copies are available direct from the author priced at £7 (please use the contact form below). Ebooks available online.
A heart-warming and magical tale which will really capture your child’s imagination. My son really enjoyed the book and very much identified with Ben and Lox. Each evening he wanted to hear the next instalment and was very captured by the story.
Maria Grachvogel
Ben and the Spider Prince
Lox, the gate-keeper of the spider kingdom under the hedge in Ben’s garden, asks Ben for help again. The Spider Wizard needs three special ingredients before the next full moon to make a magic potion to cure the Spider Prince, but can Ben find them in time?
He meets some unusual creatures on his quest who are not all as scary as they first seem.
Ben wants to tell his best friend Jess but she’d rather spend time with the new girl in school, so he asks his gran instead. They look for clues on the computer and in the library, but how much does Gran really know, and will she tell Ben a secret that will keep him safe from Spindra, the evil sister of the Spider Queen?
Signed hardback copies are available direct from the author priced at £7 (please use the contact form below). Ebooks available online.
The Spider Prince is a wonderful sequel full of adventure and magic. A story about loyalty and friendship that will totally capture your child’s heart
Maria Grachvogel
Ben and the Spider Lake
In the summer holidays Ben, his family, his dog Scoot, and his best friend Jess, stay in a cottage near the Dark Mountains. Ben and Jess find out that there’s a lake inside the mountain called Spider Lake and they wonder if it’s the place that Ben’s Gran had told him about in the spring, when she gave him the power to make himself small so that he could help the Spider Wizard to save the Spider Prince. Scoot gets into trouble when he finds a way through a cave onto the path around the lake where Ben and Jess meet a white owl called Hiboo and a mysterious lady.
When Ben arrives home he finds out that the lane at the back of his garden is going to be dug up. He’s worried because he knows that the spiders who live under the lane will lose their home and could even be hurt. He has to find Lox, the guardian of the spider kingdom to tell him what’s going to happen. Ben and Jess try desperately to think of somewhere that the spiders could live but they only have four weeks before the workmen arrive. Can they find a safe home for the spiders in time? If they do, how will they move them? Is there anyone who could help? Maybe Gran has some ideas.
Signed hardback copies are available direct from the author priced at £7 (please use the contact form below). Ebooks available online.
The Spider Lake is a wonderful and enchanting adventure that continues the story of Ben and Jess. The quest to find their insect friends a new home tests their imagination and develops their friendship.
Maria Grachvogel
The Captain’s Favourite Treasure
Meet Tom. Tom is a cabin boy on the pirate ship The Puffin and loves it very much. When Captain Cutlass Crank goes ashore on Pirate Island, he tells Tom to look after his favourite treasure…but when he returns, the treasure is missing! Very angry, the captain says that Tom must find his treasure – or stay behind on Pirate Island for good.
Tom asks his parents, his parrot, Giggles, and the crew too, but none know what has happened to the treasure. Determined to find it, Tom takes a boat and rows to lots and lots of strange islands searching for the treasure. Can the fire tigers help him? What about the jigsaw people or the fish under the waves? Will Tom ever find the treasure?
Available as paperback or eBook from Troubador, Amazon or signed copies direct from the author (please use the contact form below).
Join Tom on his adventure across the ocean as he searches for the captain’s favourite treasure. Can he find it before Captain Crank leaves him behind on Pirate Island?
With lively language, quirky illustrations and a surprise ending, The Captain’s Favourite Treasure is a picture book that young readers will enjoy time and time again.
Published Work
Poetry
4.8.88 in Rearranging the Pyramids, (Polytechnic of Wales anthology) 1990
Farmhouse at Newry & A Lifeful of Haiku in Painting Pontypridd (Polytechnic of Wales anthology) 1991
Montserrat Ordonez's Instructions to Women: how to turn talk into action and write a thesis, a poem, a book, or nothing at all - New Welsh Review, 21, 1993, pp 120-122 (Full text)
Llandaff Cathedral, New Welsh Review, 47, (VolX11/111) Winter 1999-2000 p.63 (Full text)
Colours, New Welsh Review, 56, (Golden Jubilee Edition), July 2002 p.105 (Full text)
Wipe Out in Writers’ Forum Magazine poetry competition No.155 (Aug 2014) (Full text)
Call Collect in Writers’ Forum Magazine poetry competition No.159 (Jan 2015) (Full text)
Villanelle for a Soldier in Onward/Ymlaen! An anthology of radical poetry from contemporary Wales, (Culture Matters Co-operative) 2020
Simon Says Nothing in Red Poets Magazine, Issue 26, Sept 2020
Critical/Educational
Flight-deck of Experience - an exploration of the life and writings of Menna Gallie, New Welsh Review, 18, (Vol V No 2) 1992, pp 60-64
Wales at War: Alun Lewis and Other Writers - Study Guide,
University of Glamorgan, 1993. ISBN 0-948634-65-0
Fiction
Ben and the Spider Gate, Book Guild Publishing, 2015
Ben and the Spider Prince, Book Guild Publishing, 2016
Ben and the Spider Lake, Book Guild Publishing, 2016
The Captain’s Favourite Treasure , Matador , 2018
The Fractured Globe , Darkstroke Books , December 2020
Reviews for The Fractured Globe
This story hit me on a whole new emotional level … It will definitely stay with me for a long, long time.
prdgreads (Reviewer)
This story sets quite a different tone. It looks at some sectors of society that some people choose to ignore. We could pass people like Kay or Tia in the street every day, maybe pass a judgemental glance over at them, and then get on with our normal day. This book reminds us of the detrimental effects of doing so. It brings to the fore some of the most pertinent issues of our twentieth and twenty first century class system.
iheartbooks (Reviewer)
Reviews for The Captain’s Treasure
What a lovely book The Captain’s Favourite Treasure by Angela Fish is. Beautiful illustrations throughout the book a must for any child who loves a good pirate story with an adventure to a pirate island. He meets Dolphins, Fire tigers, Monkeys, Fish and many more animals. Tom then visits the Rainbow Island then the Christmas Island and many more Islands looking for Captain Crank’s favourite treasure. Does Tom find it?
This story was very thoughtful, and Tom could be a boy or girl pirate who is having an adventure looking for treasure and visiting Islands.
The Captain’s Favourite Treasure by Angela Fish is very colourful and I loved it. Great book for any child and would be great for the pre-school going up to the classroom and this will be used for my classes. I can see a project coming out of this story and some role play with my students.
Wonderful Book.
N.T. (Reviewer), 2018
Adorable children's book! I liked each fantasy island he searched. The illustrations were great. It taught a great lesson about "treasure".
A. D. (Educator), 2018
My kids and I all loved this book. There was enough going on in the illustrations to hold their attention the whole way through, and we all loved the ending. Great for early readers too.
J.L. (Reviewer), 2018
Cute story about a pirate boy named Tom who goes searching for the Captain's favourite treasure. Cute illustrations and the story has a nice flow to it.
S.M. (Reviewer), 2018
This is a very good title for early readers. The repetition used will help them anticipate words and build confidence in their reading skills … and the final discovery of the Captain’s Treasure and the things we value provides a good lesson.
R.Z., 2018
Reviews for Ben and The Spider Gate
The author and ex-Howell's girl Angela Fish visited Year 2 today. Angela's book "Ben and the Spider Gate" isn't out until this September, but we were lucky enough to be sent a sneak preview copy a few weeks ago and so were thrilled to meet the author. We all had masses of questions to ask Angela, not only about the story, but also how she writes her books and where she gets her ideas. We saw illustrations from the book and learned all about the process of how it was published. We then had a real treat when Angela read out an extract from the next book in the series and had a huge surprise when she left us a copy of the new story to read. It won't be out until Spring next year so this is a real thrill - thank you so much, Angela!
Howell’s Junior School (Independent Girls’ School), July 2015
I sat in when the class teacher was reading Ben and the Spider Gate to the children at story time. It was clear from their faces that they were enjoying it. When it was time to finish the session, even I didn’t want the teacher to stop!
Classroom Assistant, St Michael’s R C Primary
The pupils were really keen to move on from chapter to chapter. I think they would have been happy to have heard the book all in one go! They were keen to find out more about how the story was written, so Angela Fish was invited in on World Book Day in March and I think she was surprised at the number of questions that they asked. I know that the teachers in the other classes that read the story feel the same way.
Teacher, St Michael’s R C Primary
Gran was my favourite – I think she’s wise and she’s kind.
Pupil, St Michael’s R C Primary
I liked Scoot because he’s like my dog – clever but a bit naughty.
Pupil, St Michael’s R C Primary
Ben was naughty to go into the woods and to take Jess with him, but he was only trying to help Lox and the other spiders.
Pupil, St Michael’s R C Primary
“A heart-warming and magical tale which will really capture your child’s imagination. My son really enjoyed the book and very much identified with Ben and Lox. Each evening he wanted to hear the next instalment and was very captured by the story.”
Maria Grachvogel, London-based Fashion Designer
Ben and the Spider Gate is a fantastic hardback book by Angela Fish. It is a stunningly well-written and delightful book for children and parents and very well-illustrated with some engaging and enchanting artwork throughout the book.
Extract from a review on “That’s Christmas”. http://thatschristmas.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/ben-and-spider-gate.html?spref=bl
Illustrated with some beautiful black and white drawings, it is the kind of book you will enjoy reading to your young children or grandchildren.
Extract from review by Brian Lee, in Cowbridge Gem and also in Bridgend and Porthcawl Recorder
My children aged 3 and 6 were hooked by this story and wouldn’t let me stop until we finished it all. I liked it as much as they did as it was quite different to the normal children stories we read. We can’t wait to read the next one when it’s released.
Amazon.co.uk review
We bought a Kindle Fire for our daughter for Christmas and she really wanted to read this book as the Author came into her school to talk about it. She was really pleased with it!
Amazon.co.uk review
A wonderful tale that will inspire children to explore their garden and all the secrets it holds, Ben and the Spider Gate is a heart-warming tale with themes of friendship and magic.
Lauren Lewis, Group Customer Services Manager (selected as one of The Book Guild "Staff picks").
Press
Interviewed by Jan Baynham. 20 September 2015
http://janbaynham.blogspot.co.uk/2015_09_01_archive.html
Featured on "That's Christmas". 13 September 2015
http://thatschristmas.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/ben-and-spider-gate.html?spref=bl
Wales Online. 19 January 2016
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/angela-fish-used-academic-lecturer-10758167
Interview with Judith Barrow, Author and Narberth Book Fair Organiser. July 2016
https://www.writersandauthors.info/2018/07/interview-with-angela-esme-fish.html