And yes he does talk to us as we read through the novel. From the opening pages Blade is a an intriguing and mysterious character, refusing to give us his name and insisting we call him Blade. The story centres around, and is narrated by central character Blade. Tim Bowler already has a reputation as one of the best writers in the teenage literature field and this set of books highlights just how good he is. I have to confess that I missed this series 1st time round but having read the reissue I’m disappointed that I did.

‘Blade: Enemies’ is a reissue of the 1st two books in the series and was reissued by Oxford University Press in February of this year. And that’s why I love it.The ‘Blade’ series of books was 1st issued in 2008 and comprised of 8 books with the 1st in the series titled ‘Blade: Playing Dead’. It’s something you never bottom, never crack, never stop learning about. Writing is all these things and many more. It’s more like tickling trout, holding your hand out and trying to coax the ideas to swim into your grasp or being a potter, throwing the rough clay of your thoughts down and letting the story twist out under the palms of your hands or being a sorcerer, stirring the cauldron of your imagination and watching the vapour of the story rise. Some people think there must be a set of rules for writing but the truth is there aren’t any. If the characters and settings are strong enough, then I usually find the plot reveals itself, albeit through a sometimes laborious series of rewrites. To me, writing is as much about listening as it is about putting down words. I believe in the power of stories to move us, entertain us and transform us. I have lots of things I love doing – playing sports, reading, listening to music, walking, practising yoga, translating foreign languages – but for me writing is special.

There are lots of foxes, rabbits and birds and sometimes you can see wild deer on the far slopes. It’s a lovely spot with hills rolling away into the distance, a badger sett down to the left and the tower of the village church just visible to the right. When the weather’s fine, I take my laptop out of the bolthole and into a nearby meadow so that I can sit and write outside.

It’s situated in a quiet part of the village with nothing to hear but birdsong and the occasional snort of horses in some stables. Family and friends call it Tim’s Bolthole. You can see a bit of it in the photos over to the right of this page. My workroom is an old stone outhouse ten minutes’ walk from my home. It’s a beautiful county and I’ve lived there since 1983. More about Tim: “I live in the south-west of England in a sleepy Devon village. Tim Bowler is the author of many books for children, including River Boy, which won the Carnegie Medal in 1997.

Playing Dead by Tim Bowler