A talented nine-year-old schoolgirl has won a competition to create a character for a Scots children’s author’s next book.
Ruby Mae Russell, a Primary 5 pupil at Our Lady of Lourdes in East Kilbride, dreamed up the character of Hendry the Hawk for the sequel to Len Rayne’s debut novel ‘Eyes of Devilla’.
Len visited Our Lady of Lourdes Primary as part of the school’s celebration of Book Week Scotland.
He spoke to the children about the writing process and how to get a book published before giving the children the opportunity to take part in an exciting competition to create a character for his next book.
Ruby Mae impressed Len with her creation of Henry the Hawk and, as well as having her character featured in his latest book, will be mentioned in the acknowledgements section.
Len said he had a tough job deciding which entry would be the best fit for his new novel but the winner was revealed via video link from his home office.
He said: “I had a fantastic visit to Our Lady of Lourdes Primary recently. The children were all very keen to hear about my book, and how I went about writing it. There was no shortage of questions from a very inquisitive audience!
“The competition to come up with a character for my next book seemed to capture everyone’s imagination.
“It was a pleasure to look through all the entries – although choosing a winner was not so easy. However, Ruby Mae’s character of Hendry the Hawk was a great fit with the next book.
“Ruby Mae had put a lot of thought into how the character looks, as well as some of his more interesting abilities. Hendry has already made an appearance in one of the early chapters, and I’m looking forward to building his part as I progress with book two.”
Looking for ways to enjoy his retirement, Len always felt he had at least one book in him. In their early years, he would make up tales for his two sons during the school holidays as they walked through the local woods in Dunblane.
Ideas from these walks were parked away in the back of his mind, and now many of them appear in his first Book – ‘Eyes of Devilla’.
It’s the tale of 12-year-old Bonnie Banks who takes a stand against modern day witches in a tale of passion version greed. The story moves at pace as Bonnie joins forces with her superpowered dog David to save the local forest.
Elaine Perez, acting depute head at Our Lady of Lourdes, said: “Everyone at Our Lady of Lourdes loved our collaboration with Len and we are delighted for Ruby Mae.”
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