Salisbury-born author publishes two new kid's books in time for the summer holidays

His first two children’s books, ’The Adventures of Stella Earwax and Friends’ and ‘More Adventures of Stella Earwax’, are now available to buy in paperback on Amazon.

Stella is a 147-year-old witch who lives with her cat, Glitch, in a thatched cottage, inside a stone circle in an enchanted wood.

“She begins each of the stories by casting spells intended to make her life run smoother, but these often have disastrous but hilarious consequences,” said Julian. “She then spends the rest of the story trying to put things right.”

“Stella’s adventures are perfect for younger children during the summer holidays,” he added and said he would love to see Stella and Glitch toys and merchandise in the shops one day - maybe even a Netflix series!

The two books contain 17 short stories and are aimed at children aged three to seven.

“I came up with the idea for Stella in 2017 after reading stories to my children Katie and Oliver, who are now 9 and 7 respectively,” said Julian. “My children, my wife Natalie and my friends and family are very proud and supportive of my work.”

Salisbury-born Julian, 55, started writing back in school but says his passion was piqued through reading historical novels by Simon Scarrow and his favourite book, Shogun by James Clavell.

“History is not just the past,” said Julian. “It’s shaped who we are today. Our ancestors, even as far back as the Stone Age, were people just like us. Limited by technology but they shared the same emotions as we do.”

“Writing is just about the most fun anyone can have,” he continued. “I love inventing characters and worlds but I also delve into the past with my historical novels Tomb of the Lost, Spear of Destiny, Drake's Gold and Cross of Gold, which is the fourth in the series, coming soon.”

Starting in Berlin in 1942 and taking readers all the way to the lost city of El Dorado, Julian has spent years researching and writing the Peter Dennis books, wanting to make sure that his stories and characters are as accurate and authentic to real-life as possible.

Having worked many different jobs including carpet weaver, bus driver and window cleaner, he now delivers parcels for a well-known courier company. “I can literally gain inspiration from anywhere," said Julian. “I always carry a pen and paper with me to get ideas written down. I'm sometimes asked who I’m most like, who I write like and who most inspires me and the answer is no-one - I am me.”

Julian has also written two fact books called ‘The World is Not Flat’ and ‘The World is Still Not Flat’, filled with things people believed to be true that weren’t.

Ideal for lounging by the beach or the pool, readers can discover trivia tidbits like where the phrase ‘cool as a cucumber’ comes from!