Julia Golding

:-D wrote on 23 April 2013:

Dear Julia, When you wrote Black Heart of Jamaica, and wrote the songs sung, did you have any tunes that you composed for the lyrics? (The songs being New come Bukra and Me can't go there) I was wondering because we recently did a small part of out music lessons on the music the slaves sang. (And I do agree with Cat, it most certainly is something.) Thank you. P.s. Is there anything we can do to revive Cat from her early grave in literature?

Hi I found them in my research - they are real. I don't know what tunes they would have used but I guess they may have made up different ones depending on the musician and the instruments.

Laura wrote on 23 April 2013:

Dear Julia Golding, I'm a HUGE fan. I love your Cat Royal books. Do you know Bruce Coville? Is it scary talking in front of kids at school? -Laura

Hi Laura, No, I don't know him. Scary? Not really. Most young people are great and like to have a change from normal lessons to chat with me.

Shay wrote on 23 April 2013:

Hi again, i just need some fun facts about you. When did you publish your 1st book? Do you have any pets? How many countries have you lived in? Thank you so much! From, Shay

2006. Yes, a splendid labradoodle called Caspar. Two (England and Poland).

Zoë Jæn wrote on 22 April 2013:

Hi!!!!! I'm the biggest Darcie lock fan EVA and I was wondering how many books there will be???? And will we find out why Stingo is called Stingo???? Thank you sooooooo much!! PS:- I love the cat royal books too!!!! I'm not into any other books!!!!! PPS:- please can you write more of these books because you are an amazing author!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thanks Zoe. I'd like to do a fourth Darcie but it would have to be on my own time as I don't have a publisher for it, hence the wait. Same goes with Cat - the publisher is not backing me at the moment. My latest book is a fantasy (Young Knights of the Round Table) with the lovely people at OUP, just out so do give it a try. Or you could try my slightly older books as Joss Stirling and Eve Edwards which are more like Cat and Darcie but for teens.

lydia wrote on 22 April 2013:

Hi do you know of a place in woodbrige va. that i can get the second book to the companions quartet i love your serries!

Have you looked online?

Georgia Goose wrote on 21 April 2013:

Hi Julia I am a 14 year old girl and have recently found I have a life threating illness and am not expected to live long So the doctors have advised me to do everythIng I need to do so I can leave this world in peace And one of those thing was to read dragonfly and glass swallow in a PDF Could you send me a link to a website where I can get them for free because all the money in my house at the moment is being used uP for my treatment From Georgia

Dear Georgia I'm really sorry to hear that but the best place to get books are from your local library for free. I'm sure they will be sympathetic and help you will these and any other titles seeing you have special circumstances.

Lucy wrote on 21 April 2013:

Hi Julia. I think your Cat Royal books are amazing and I would love another one to be published. I read various other questions relating to this but just wondering what happened? Thanks, Lucy

Not much. The publisher appears to have lost interest in more (my old editor moved on and I don't know her replacement yet).

Theata wrote on 20 April 2013:

Hi I was wondering how many Darcie Lock books there are going to be? I hope it's loads because they are my favourite books.

There are three so far and I hope to get time to write the last (fourth) one.

Rebekah wrote on 19 April 2013:

Hi Julia! I was just curious as to whether the publishing company has said anything about publishing the next books in the cat series? I finished Cat's Cradle three months ago and I'm dying to know what else Cat goes through haha :) -With Love<3

No. I think they've lost interest : (

Abe wrote on 18 April 2013:

Hello, I have been wanting to know a few things about for my author study. 1 What inspires you to write your books? 2 What is your favorites most favorite book you have ever read? And 3 how long ago was it when you got the idea of "Secret of The Sirens? -Thanks Abe :)

1. I'm inspired by seeing a story unfold like a bolt of silk unrolling - sounds odd but that's the image that came to mind. 2. Pride and Prejudice 3. About ten years ago.

Juliane wrote on 17 April 2013:

Hi! The question might seem a bit odd, but is your birthday on 1st March? I've nearly read all your books and I noticed that events like birthdays are several times on 1st March. Harry Potter's birthday for example is on the same day as J.K. Rowling's, and other authors do something like that as well. On Wikipedia I read that your birthday is in March, so that fits. I'm interested in that because my birthday is also on March 1st. Best wishes, Juliane :-)

I keep details like that out of the public domain as identity theft is all too easy once you have a few basic facts about people - you might like to think about doing so yourself.

Shay wrote on 17 April 2013:

Hi Julia I'm doing an author project on you and I have a couple questions that i was hoping you could answer. 1.Did your career at oxfam affect your writing,and if so,how? And...2.Why did you become a diplomat in Poland?(and also what did you do there?) Thanks! Shay

1. Yes - I saw many interesting countries as part of my work and that has gone into the stories and my interest in climate change was fuelled by seeing the effects on poor and marginalised communities. 2. I became a diplomat on leaving university. The FCO sent me to Poland (I was happy to go) as I had the ability to learn a difficult language - there's a test for young diplomats. It was also a very exciting place to be at the time due to the changes. I was Second Secretary Political section - a political analysis job.

Monica wrote on 17 April 2013:

How do you send to billy?

Send the question to Cat as usual and she will pass it on.

Monica wrote on 15 April 2013:

Hi Julia its Monica again i wrote to you yesterday.i was wondering if there was a way to write to the characters of the carry royal books. Please reply soon Monica

You can send questions to Billy as well as Cat at the moment.

Monica wrote on 14 April 2013:

Hey Julia its Monica again I was wondering if you knew what the name of the girl that is on the cover of only the first four books is thanks

Are you UK or US? UK it is on the back; US I don't know.

Monica wrote on 14 April 2013:

Hi Julia, I am Monica. I recently read the Cat Royal series and I really loved it so i was looking at all the covers of the books online and then i saw that there is another book called Cat Among the Pigeons so i was wondering if you got the title idea from Agatha Christie's book. Also did you name some of the characters after places (in Jamaica) because there is Kingston Hawkins and there is Kingston, Jamaica, Billy Shepherd and Billy Bay in Jamaica, Pedro Amakye and Pedro Bay, and finally there is Cat Royal which goes with Theatre Royal and Port Royal. Please reply soon Sincerely, Monica

Hi Monica The phrase Cat Among the Pigeons is an old one about causing trouble (goes back to 1706 at least) so predates Agatha Christie and Cat's time in the 1790s. Some of your guesses are right - the name Kingston was linked to Jamaica, but not Billy or Pedro. Cat is named after her theatre. Julia

Jason Schreeder wrote on 12 April 2013:

I am trying to make a WordPress website with all the books my 11 year old son has read.This is so he can just keep track. He has read the Companions Quartet and loved them. Is it ok to use images of the cover on his site. I just wanted to ask permission before we did. Thank you for your time!

I'm sure that's fine. Cover images belong to the publisher but they won't mind it being used in this context - it's good for them, after all. Say hi to your son from me.

John wrote on 11 April 2013:

Hi I'm a vine amazon reviewer. I picked three of your Companions Quartet books but I was unable to get the first one. Is it possible for me to get an e-copy of the first book as well so I can review the entire series? Sincerely, John

HI John It is listed on Amazon so maybe you could get it there. If not, best place to ask about this is the publicity department, Children's Books of OUP (if you are in the UK) or Marshall Cavendish if you are in the US. It would be a shame not to have the first one! Come back to me if they can't help you.

Jennifer wrote on 06 April 2013:

Hi I am huge fan of your Kat Royal books and read them all. Are there any new books in the sires coming out

My latest book is Young Knights of the Round Table - not a Cat book though, but first in a series.

rhiannon Parker-Nicholls wrote on 06 April 2013:

Daer Julia Golding. I am sorry to bother you but I have a little bt of an obsession with trying to make facts out of the Cat Royal books such as who the charecters are based on such as Pedro is based on Georges Bridgewater as you confirmed. My next question is that Does Cat have anything to do with Brydges street changing to Catherine street or is it just a coinsidence? Thank you. Rhiannon Parker-Nicholls

I did use that fact after I named her as a reason for Sheridan to choose it (a queenly name).