Celebrating Charlotte Haptie by Sandra Horn

Granny Grabbers by Charlotte Haptie

There are many reasons for writing, but perhaps the most important (and only legitimate?) one is joy.

The joy of creating the story, the poem, the essay from your own store of words. The joy of knowing that the work is as you want it to be, the pattern of the words has fallen right, the arc of the narrative is pleasingly as you planned. There’s nothing else like that feeling. From time to time, someone unearths a notebook or diary from a forgotten cupboard or box in the attic, and discovers a treasure, the writings of someone, perhaps long gone, never meant for publication – created for the joy of creating. For most of us, however, the next step in the creating is to share it, and to that end, we enter the devious and dangerous world of publishing, without even a ‘Beware of Crocodiles’ sign to guide us.

From time to time, someone I do not know, or know slightly, or is the friend of a friend, says the dreaded words, ‘I’ve written/my mother-in-law/uncle/next-door neighbour has written, a book, a story, some poems, please could you see what you think of it/them.’  It’s always a heartsink moment, simply because there’s no knowing what it will be like and one is expected to say that at the very least it deserves publication. What to say if the story doesn’t hold together or the grammar is faulty or anything else that’s not easy to dress up in encouraging words? I never know – and yet it’s so hard to say, ‘No, I won’t.’ Aargh!

However, once in a while, or maybe just once, full stop, it’s joyful. Somewhere around 2000, I responded, reluctantly, to such a request and found myself engrossed in a brilliantly-written fantasy adventure for children, which was full of joyful inventions. I sent on to my then editor at Hodder and they took it. The author was Charlotte Haptie and the book was Otto and the Flying Twins, the first of a trilogy, followed by Otto and the Bird Charmers and Otto in the Time of the Warrior (who turned out to be a Worrier, in fact).

 . Otto is one of the Karmidee, a race of magical beings, among them, widges, lamp-eyes, mat-flyers, dammerungs, whisperers, ice-makers and fire-makers – whose world has been taken over by humans who feel threatened by the magic and seek to suppress the Karmidee. The books are richly plotted and full of wonderful devices. They also touch on important human issues without underlining them with a big black line. For example, Otto is of mixed heritage. The books were published in 12 countries. Sadly, they are out of print now and not easy to come by, but they do also exist as audiobooks.

 Here are some quotes from reviews:

A sophisticated, elliptical fantasy that does not read like anything you have come across before. It will reward youngsters…with its magic, warmth and excitement. The Sunday Times

A mixture of humour and extravagant action, this attractive fantasy is accessible to quite young readers simply as an adventure story. But it is a very thoughtful book, and underlying its invention and suspense are other layers of meaning. BfK

This early contact became an online and over-the-phone friendship which I enjoy to this day. Two writers supporting each other and having a lot of fun along the way. Charlotte’s next book was Ice Angel in 2011, a fantasy adventure for older children. The Ice Angel is not an ethereal being, as I first thought it would be, it’s an ice-cream van! It is driven by Zack, a boy whose father disappeared mysteriously twelve years ago and Zack is desperate to find out what happened to him, but there are dangers and darkness along the way; enemies he’s never met, and the Wolf Road – dangerous but the only way home. Another great story, rich in invention. 

 

 … ‘Imbued with a sense of delight’ Children’s Books in Ireland. 

 Charlotte then went on to write two books for younger readers, Granny Grabbers’ Whizz Bang World and Granny Grabbers’ Daring Rescue. They are laugh-out-loud funny stories of a robot child minder with faulty circuits. The cunning plan for the Daring Rescue involves Easter bunnies, paintball pirates and a magic trick (if Granny Grabbers can get it to work). They, and Ice Angel, are available on Kindle.

 

  ‘The perfect amount of mischief and mayhem’ The Golden Treasury Review

‘One of the most gloriously funny creations’ The Bookbag

…and there’s another one on the stocks, not yet with a publisher: The Boy, the Clock and the North Star, which is so full of wonderful invention that I can’t wait to see it on the shelves! One aspect of the story was inspired by an interview with Warwick Davis, who commented on the lack of roles for people of short stature except when characters were defined by it, as in Willow. In this story, two characters are of short stature and it impacts on their lives but they are not defined by it – human concerns woven subtly into the narrative..

I sent an early draft of this to Charlotte who, being an intensely private person, wasn’t entirely  comfortable with it and felt it read like an advertisement. My fault if it does – but I just wanted to celebrate and shout out about a fellow-writer and friend who writes absolutely wonderful stories! So there.