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Best-selling
author Chris d'Lacey was born in Malta. He has published twenty-two
books, including nine novels. His books have been widely translated and
his first children's novel, Fly, Cherokee, Fly, was highly commended
for the Carnegie Medal. Other titles include The Salt Pirates of Skegness,
A Break in the Chain, and From E to You.
Writing was not d'Lacey's first career choice. “I never had plans to be
a writer,” he says. “When I was in my teenage years my dream was
to be a famous songwriter. It wasn't until my early thirties that I tried my
hand at any sort of fiction. I kicked off with a gentle 'Christmassy' story that
grew, alarmingly, into a 250,000 word adult saga about polar bears. I realized
then I had the writing bug.” After he wrote his first story, he waited
seven years to write another. “Then a friend told me about a competition
to write a story for young children,” states d'Lacey. “I wasn't going
to have a go at first - until I found out the first prize was £2000. So
I started scribbling, fast!” The story, entitled A Hole at the Pole,
didn't win the award, but he sent the story to a publisher and they accepted
it.
The Fire Within is the magical story about mysterious hand-crafted clay
dragons that have unusual powers. d'Lacey's inspiration was a craft shop that
sold clay dragons. He fell in love with the dragons, but he didn't have enough
money to buy one, so the owner pointed him to a section of the store reserved
for dragons that have been chipped. “They were a bit cheaper than the other
dragons but no less beautiful,” says d'Lacey. “And it was there that
I saw the most appealing creature in the whole shop. He had a slight chink out
of one foot and his 'topknot' was missing (a 'topknot' is on the top of a dragon's
head and looks a bit like a shark's fin) but I bought him in an instant.” d'Lacey
felt that he needed a magical name, so he called him Gadzooks.
Chris alternates writing with full-time employment at Leicester University. He
lives in Leicester with his wife, Jay.