The Spell Book of Listen Taylor

The Spell Book of Listen Taylor will be released in the US and Australia in October, and in the UK next year. It’s a revised version of I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes. In many ways, it’s the same book, but there’s a lot of new material about a girl named Listen Taylor.

I rewrote Pancakes because my American editor was intrigued by the character of Listen. Listen Taylor, twelve years old, was already very important – her Spell Book is central to the plot – but she was also very quiet. My editor wanted to hear her voice. He wanted to know why her friends were so cruel. And what exactly she thought about the Zing Family Secret.

When I started to write more about Listen, an unexpected thing happened. Other parts of the book began to shift. For example, Listen’s older brother became her father. Her mother ran away to Paris. Some of the other adults disappeared, some of their actions stopped making sense, and some of them became more complete.

The result is a different story, and one that is aimed more at young adults. At this point I’d like to finish with a clever line about how Listen has flipped Pancakes. Or has added maple syrup. But that would be just too sweet.