Dulcinea's name should have been Charlotte Emily Kate. That was the plan, but when she was born her mother had a momentary lapse in judgement and called her 'Dulcinea' (with an excessive number of middle names to boot). With such a literary name what choice did she have but to aspire to be a writer (or a Princess). Had she been called Charlotte Emily Kate then perhaps she would have chosen a slightly more sensible impossible dream to quest for.
Dulcinea is a Civil Servant and freelance ghost writer. She also writes and owns a pregnancy and parenting website called Baby Nunu and a perfume blog called Perfume FAQs. She has recently set up a writers and artists chat room. In her spare time she tries to keep her kids (2 boys) from doing anything destructive or fatal!
Dulcinea is currently working on two YA novels. Blood & Clay is a historical novel based on the life of the youngest Pendle Witch to go to the gallows and Wendigo Wars is a teen horror and the first in a trilogy.
Dulcinea has four short stories due for publication in 2009 including two for the Wyvern Publications book Dragontales. One for a teen horror anthology and one for a children's Christmas assembly read anthology (both being published by Bridge House LLP). She also already has one short story due for publication in 2010 and two short stories being published in the September issue of the US child literacy magazine Knowonder and two short stories plus a parenting article in the October Issue.
Dulcinea's blog can be found at
http://www.dulcineanortonsmith.co.uk Her perfume blog is at
http://www.perfumefaqs.comHer pregnancy and parenting blog is at
http://www.babynunu.comBlood & Clay Blurb
Alizon stared at the woman hanging from the noose. Her screeches and curses to the crowd had quickly silenced as the chair was kicked from under her feet to leave her limp body swinging from the gallows like a rag doll. So another witch had met her end and many deaths were still to come.
Eleven year old Alizon Device, born of a family which worships the Devil, knows that the net is closing in on the witches of Pendle. Will her innocence and secret belief in God be her saving grace or will her naivety and heritage lead her to an early death at the gallows?
Wendigo Wars Blurb
The White came and left behind it a ravenous enemy.
It is the year 2170 and one hundred years ago global warming led to famine, then the White - a second ice age. The ice brought cannibalism and the cannibalism brought the wendigo.
Mathilde Fidell holds the fate of Europe and America in her hands and when a war is declared between the humans and the wendigo it falls to her to find a way to save mankind.
Will her self doubt prevent her from fulfilling her prophecy or will it be an enemy much closer to home which jeopardises her war against the wendigo?