Time Travelling with a Tortoise is an adventure-packed sequel to ROSS WELFORD’s beloved, bestselling debut, Time Travelling with a Hamster.
Good Reading asked the author about Al, Carly and Alan Shearer the hamster!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Al Chaudhury travelled back in time to save his father’s life.
And it worked – Al’s dad is alive again and life is back to the way it should be. At least, that’s what Al thinks.
But when an accident robs Al’s beloved Grandpa Byron of his world-beating memory, Al is forced back in time again, this time leaving someone behind, trapped in a prehistoric dimension.
Al is forced into a rescue mission to recover his friend from the past… and to make sure that there will be a future waiting for them all.
It turns out time travel is far more complicated than Al thought.
MEET ROSS WELFORD
What sparked the idea for your latest book?
It had always been in the back of my mind, ever since I finished Time Travelling With A Hamster. I loved the characters of Al, Grandpa Byron and Carly and was sad that I had to say goodbye to them! A few years passed, and the thought of going back to the story kept nagging at me, so I thought, why not?
What’s new for Al since the last book?
The last book ends with Al content with the outcome of his time-travelling adventures. It soon becomes clear to him, however, that he is living in an alternative world from the one he left. He says he feels like a stranger in his own life and is surprised to learn that he misses his stepsister, Carly.
In this story Al travels back in time to rescue a friend – what are some of the challenges he will face on his adventures?
An improvised repair of the hugely-damaged time-machine results in in Al, Carly and Alan Shearer the hamster (yes – he’s back!) travelling back to prehistoric times along with a new(ish) character, Paulie. It seems as though Paulie will be eaten by a vicious dinosaur…and that’s just the opening chapters!
If you could travel to any time or place, where would you go? And why?
I think I’d probably travel to the future rather than the past. Perhaps I’m seeking reassurance that the wonderful human race will, after all, muddle through – as we have for millennia!
What are some of the most important lessons Al learns in this book?
Without wanting to give too much away, Al learns that messing with spacetime is a very bad idea and that looking for the joy in the life you have will often be more satisfying that yearning for something unattainable.
What are you working on next?
Right now, I literally don’t know! I have about six different ideas on the go, and I’m waiting to find out which one appeals to me the most. Watch this space, as they say!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I was born in Cullercoats, a small seaside town in the north east of England. (It appears in my books as ‘Culvercot’.)
After university, I moved to London and became a journalist and then, after a few years, a television producer.
I began writing Time Travelling With A Hamster in 2014. It was published in January 2016. My second book, What Not To Do If You Turn Invisible followed a year later.
I live in London, England, with my family, tropical fish and border collie, Jess. When not writing, I tour the UK and internationally talking to schools, libraries and festivals.
