Magherafelt author unveils '˜magical' new children's book

A past pupil of Magherafelt Primary School and Rainey Endowed, Claire Savage has fitted her novel-writing around work as a journalist and copy writer.

Now living on the north coast, the area’s tall tales inspired her debut into tween fiction entitled Magical Masquerade.

In a bid to unveil her new work to potential young readers, she has been on a tour of schools.

And her first stop in Mid Ulster was at Kilross Primary School.

Pupils enjoyed an afternoon with Claire on Friday (February 10) when she visited the school to read from her debut children’s book.

Magical Masquerade will be published in April, with an official Belfast launch event planned for June.

The fantasy adventure is aimed at children between nine and 12-years-old.

“I love writing and was really enjoying my work as a journalist, but it was always my dream to write a novel,” she said.

“I’d started writing short stories around 2011 and this one story just seemed to keep going.

“It wasn’t actually my intention at first to make it a novel, but as my notebook filled up, I realised it could be – so I kept writing and after about a year, Magical Masquerade was finished.”

Written in lunch breaks, after work and at the weekends, the book took another year or so to edit.

“I wrote the book I would have loved reading as a child and Magical Masquerade is perfect for anyone who loves adventurous stories with lots of quirky characters, magic and mayhem,” Claire said.

Kilross principal Anne Crossett added that the children thoroughly enjoyed Claire’s visit.

She added that they were looking forward to including Magical Masquerade in their school library, while Claire said she happy to do more school visits in the Mid Ulster area.