Title revealed for the third Adventures on Trains book!

I’m thrilled to announce that the title for Hal and Uncle Nat’s next adventure will be Murder on the Safari Star!

Steaming into bookshops across the UK in February 2021, the third instalment in the bestselling Adventures on Trains series will take Harrison further from home than ever before, as he travels with his uncle to South Africa, for a luxurious safari travelling by rail from Pretoria, through Zimbabwe, to the breathtaking Victoria Falls.

Hoping to relax after their escapades in America on board the California Comet, and draw some of Africa’s incredible wildlife from the train, Hal quickly finds himself immersed in a deadly plot, where nothing is as it seems. With new companions to befriend, new passengers to suspect, and new clues to solve, Hal embarks on his most dangerous adventure yet. We can’t wait to share it with you.

Maya and I are fizzing with excitement to take Hal and his readers to a brilliant new destination, and look forward to sharing more details with you as soon as we can.

As ever, for more information about the Adventures on Trains books, including news, resources, and information on events and how to book school visits, please visit adventuresontrains.com

Cover reveal for Kidnap on the California Comet!

I’m over the moon to reveal Elisa Paganelli’s breathtaking cover for the second Adventures On Trains title, Kidnap on the California Comet!

Inspired by the book’s transamerican setting, the iconic streamlined Amtrak Vistadome carriages, and with a glorious art-deco twist, this blue and gold marvel is a thing of beauty. I can’t stop gazing at it in wonder.

M. G. Leonard and I can’t wait to welcome you on Hal and Uncle Nat’s second adventure, which takes them to the United States, where they ride the breathtaking California Comet right across America, from Chicago to San Francisco. Along the way, Hal makes some new friends, but when one of them goes missing, he finds himself thrust into a dangerous new adventure full of surprises.

Kidnap on the California Comet is rolling into UK bookshops from 3rd September 2020. But you can already pre-order your special signed copy from our friends at Waterstones. Bon voyage!

The Highland Falcon Thief is Waterstones' Childrens Book of the Month!

I’m over the moon at the news that Waterstones has announced The Highland Falcon Thief as their Children’s Book of the Month for February. To receive such a tremendous endorsement from an incredible bookseller is simply amazing.

Maya and I have spent the last few days scurrying around Waterstones branches in London and Brighton signing as many copies as we could lay our hands on. Look out for them in the wild, along with the incredible window displays in Waterstones’ shops all over the country. It’s been wonderful to meet so many booksellers who have spoken to us about the book with real enthusiasm. I’m so excited it’s been given this platform to help it reach the hands of readers.

The Highland Falcon Thief is out now!

The day is finally here! You can now by The Highland Falcon Thief in bookshops and online all over the UK. International publication dates will follow later in the year. I am so grateful to all the wonderful people who have worked so hard to make this day happen - Lucy Pearse, our wonderful editor, and all the tireless team at Macmillan. Kirsty McLachlan, my literary agent, who has fought for me every step of the way. My marvellous parents, to whom the book is dedicated. And of course, of course, to my great friend and co-conspirator M. G. Leonard, my partner in crime. Here’s to a future filled with may more adventures on trains.

The Highland Falcon Thief is The Times' Children's Book of the Week!

I’m delighted to learn that The Highland Falcon Thief, my first book for children, was picked in today’s Times to be their Children’s Book of the Week! Alex O’Connell gave us a lovely and very generous review, and called this first instalment in the series “a chuffing triumph”. I am understandably thrilled.

The book, co-written with my wonderful friend M. G. Leonard and illustrated by the incomparable Elisa Paganelli, is published in the UK on January 30th, but is available to pre-order online now.

You can read the full review on The Times’ website here (paywall).

The Highland Falcon Thief gets new publication date

I have some very exciting news!

My debut novel for children, The Highland Falcon Thief, co-written with my brilliant friend M. G. Leonard, will be steaming into bookshops on January 30th 2020. That’s right, in just over three weeks’ time! I’m incredibly excited, because this means you’ll all get to read about the adventures of Harrison Beck and his Uncle Nat a whole month earlier than I thought. So get packing that suitcase, and get ready to experience some amazing adventures on trains!

Don’t forget, the book is now available to pre-order from booksellers online, including Waterstones - you can find it here.

'The Highland Falcon Thief' is The Bookseller's Book of the Month!

I’m delighted to share that my debut novel for children, ‘The Highland Falcon Thief’, co-written with my buddy M. G. Leonard, has been selected by The Bookseller as their Book of the Month in their March preview. In one of the busiest months for children’s books, dominated by World Book Week, it feels incredible to have been picked as the magazine’s choice of books being published that month.

Maya and I are both incredibly proud of this book, and we can’t wait to share it with you next year. Full steam ahead!

'Adventures on Trains' series to be published in nine territories!

I’m delighted that the talented rights team at Macmillan have been working hard all winter, and made arrangements for my upcoming middle grade mystery series, ‘Adventures on Trains’, to be published in a total of nine international territories.

As well as being published in English by Macmillan in the UK, USA, Australia, India and South Africa, the books will be published in French, Spanish, Catalan, Romanian, Dutch, Czech, Japanese, Italian, and Swedish.

The rights team have been working incredibly hard to find good homes for these books, and I’m thrilled to bits that the adventures of Harrison Beck will reach so many different parts of the world.

My middle-grade mystery series will be published by Macmillan!

I'm delighted to announce that Macmillan will be publishing a series of mystery books for children co-written by me and my phenomenally talented friend, award-winning author M. G. Leonard.

(That's us on the left, geeking out in front of Mallard, the fastest steam engine in the world).

The series (which we're calling Adventures on Trains for now) follows eleven-year-old Harrison Beck and his uncle, travel-writer Nathaniel Bradshaw. In each book, the two of them will travel by train in a different part of the world, encountering mystery and adventure as they go. Harrison's keen eye for the unusual and Uncle Nat's extensive knowledge of the world make them expert railway detectives - and I can't wait to start sharing their adventures with you.

The first book in the series will be called The Highland Falcon, and follows Harrison and Uncle Nat on board the last journey of the royal steam train to Balmoral. Among their fellow passengers are aristocrats, film stars and journalists... and a very cunning jewel thief.

Maya and I first met at the National Theatre eight years ago, where she taught me the witchcraft and wizardry of being a digital content producer. Many years later, once she had left the National behind to become a full-time writer, she told me about a project she'd wanted to write - about trains. Her two sons both loved trains when they were very little, but as they grew old enough to read books by themselves, she couldn't find stories that made use of their love of trains to spark a love of reading. But she couldn't write a book about trains herself, she told me, because she knew very little about them.

I was a different story. I love trains. I grew up with a railway line at the bottom of my garden, and my long-suffering parents would often take me to the station to watch the branch line and the intercity express. I watched The Lady Vanishes and The Titfield Thunderbolt on weekends, and took the Dartmouth Steam Railway to visit Agatha Christie's house in the holidays. I had gone through the very same thing as her sons when I was little - desperate to read anything with a train in it, and finding my bookshelves lacking.

We began working on the idea together and very quickly it all began to fall into place. Working with Maya has been an absolute joy, and I'm delighted our series has found a home with the marvellous team at Macmillan. 

You'll have to speak to my agent

I'm thrilled to announce I'm now represented by Kirsty McLachlan of David Godwin Associates!

DGA are a wonderful agency and I'm delighted they've welcomed me onto their books. Kirsty is a brilliant, fearless, only slightly terrifying person, and I'm really looking forward to working with her.

Now, after all these years, when relatives ask: "So Sam, how's the writing going?" I can finally tell them they'll have to speak to my agent.

More about DGA at www.davidgodwinassociates.com