The Olympian or Joey Takes A Time Travel Tour Or Two
Peter Templeton Neale
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Buy NowWhy I wrote this book
This is my first published novel. I love writing; initially letters, diaries and terrible song lyrics but when writing my degree dissertation I found I could string a significant quantity of words together and occasionally make sense. I wrote two novel-length manuscripts in the '90s, one for children and one for adults, but without success.
I began researching 'The Olympian' in 2005, inspired by the connection between my home town and the London Olympics. It took a year to research and a year to write (evenings and weekends) and then three years re-writing and finding a publisher. I'm very grateful to Ina Taylor of Ellingham Press for allowing me this wonderful opportunity. The published version is the eighth draft. The story started as a dramatisation of Wenlock gentleman Dr William Penny Brookes' life but I've read far too many Douglas Adams and HG Wells novels for it to be a straight and sensible story and 'The Olympian' morphed into a children's time travel quest adventure.
'The Olympian' is not an individual but the name of a tour run by a Victorian time travel tourist agency that visits Wenlock on the day in 1890 when Baron Pierre de Coubertin is inspired to recreate the international Olympic Games, the tour journeys on to the Cotswold Olimpicks of 1612 and then ancient Olympia in 444BC. It tells the story of a young boy's quest through time to find his missing father and reunite his family (and get horribly lost on the way back), and involves all manner of futuristic gadgets powered by Victorian technology and a host of peculiar characters.
I prefer writing for children and love attempting to create a sense of wonder in my work. I've begun the sequel, 'The Inky Bird' but am also midway through an MSc in Educational Leadership at the University of Leicester (as well as having a full-time job and full-time family) so, whilst 'The Inky Bird' will hopefully be quicker than 'The Olympian', it'll probably take 18 months or more to complete.
The story is aimed at 9-12 year old children but there's plenty of understated humour for adults to enjoy.
Synopsis
Imagine discovering your dad runs a time travel tourist agency!
Joey Anthrobus is 13 and a great athlete. The only problem is that he can’t win races anymore because his life is in turmoil. His dad’s been away for ages and now his mum is threatening to leave home.
With his best mate Martin, Joey sets out to find his dad on ‘The Olympian’ time travel tour through Olympic history via Wenlock and the Cotswolds to Ancient Greece, and gets horribly lost on the way back.
In this captivating adventure Joey tries to reunite his family while saving the future of mankind, discovering America and attempting to catch international time thieves whilst narrowly avoiding being eaten, arrested, squashed, run over, lost and drowned.
About the Author
Peter Templeton Neale was born in Much Wenlock, Shropshire. He was brought up on a dairy farm near Church Stretton, attended William Brookes School and has lived in Shropshire all his life.
This is his first published novel. He loves writing; initially letters, diaries and terrible song lyrics but when working on a degree dissertation twenty years ago found he could string a significant quantity of words together that would occasionally make sense. He wrote two novel-length manuscripts in the ’90s, one for children and one for adults, but without success. He began researching ‘The Olympian’ in 2005, inspired by the connection between his home town and the London Olympics. It took a year to research and a year to write and then three years re-writing and finding a publisher.
He is very grateful to Ina Taylor of Ellingham Press for allowing him this wonderful opportunity. The published version is the eighth draft. The story started as a dramatisation of Wenlock gentleman Dr William Penny Brookes’ life but Peter has read far too many Douglas Adams and HG Wells novels for it to be a straight and sensible story and ‘The Olympian’ morphed into a children’s time travel quest adventure.
Book info
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Genres
Format
Paperback
pages pages
Author
Peter Templeton Neale
Publisher
Ellingham Press
Publication date
1st September 2010
ISBN
9780956307941
