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Fiona Ingram’s earliest story-telling talents came to the fore when, from the age of ten, she entertained her three younger brothers and their friends with serialised tales of children undertaking dangerous and exciting exploits, which they survived through courage and ingenuity. Haunted houses, vampires, and skeletons leaping out of coffins were hot favourites in the cast of characters.

Although Fiona Ingram has been a journalist for the last fifteen years, writing a children’s book The Secret of the Sacred Scarab was an unexpected step, inspired by a recent trip to Egypt. The tale of the sacred scarab began life as a little anecdotal tale for her 2 nephews (then 10 and 12), who had accompanied her on the Egyptian trip. This short story grew into a children’s book, the first in the adventure series Chronicles of the Stone. The author is already immersed in the next book in the series—The Search for the Stone of Excalibur—a huge treat for young King Arthur fans. Although Fiona Ingram does not have children of her own, she has an adopted teenage foster child, from an underprivileged background who is just discovering the joys of reading for pleasure.

Listen to interview with Fiona Ingram

Topics of conversation:

• Recent awards, the importance of competitions for authors.
  
• Fiona talks about her careers in theater and journalism, and how they influenced her fiction writing.
• The trip to Egypt that spawned The Secret of the Sacred Scarab, children's fascination with Egyptian culture, how it related to modern day.
  
• Bringing educational elements into her writing, creating real-life characters that make mistakes and learn common lessons as readers.
• Global literacy, statistics in South Africa, great advice for parents to encourage reading in children.
• The importance of establishing an online presence for authors - social networking, interviews, book reviews, blogging, etc. - critical steps for success.
  
  

Synopsis: The Secret of the Sacred Scarab by Fiona Ingram brings a 5000-year-old mystery to life when a scruffy peddler gives Adam and Justin Sinclair an old Egyptian scarab on their very first day in Egypt. Only when the evil Dr. Faisal Khalid shows a particular interest in the cousins and their scarab, do the boys realize they are in terrible danger. Dr. Khalid wants the relic at all costs. Justin and Adam embark upon the adventure of a lifetime, taking them down the Nile and across the harsh desert in their search for the legendary tomb of the Scarab King, an ancient Egyptian ruler. With just their wits, courage, and each other, the boys manage to survive only to find that the end of one journey is the beginning of another!