Daniel Blythe

Children's author, YA author

Also writes as

Dan Roberts

Booking enquiry

Available for

Workshop, Talk, Interview, Commission a book

Audiences

Age 7 to 11, Age 11 to 14, Age 14 to 16, Age 16 to 18+

Genres

Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humour, Lifestyle, Mystery, Novelty, Science fiction

Book types

Fiction for adults, Fiction 8-13, Fiction for young-adults, Non-fiction for adults, Non-fiction for young-adults

Organisations

Society of Authors

Event feedback

Daniel was great. We had 2 year groups present for the event and there was minimal disruption, which means they were all engaged and interested to learn more. Feedback from Year 7 was fantastic. They suggested as a school we have more events like this. We will definitely consider bringing Daniel in again but for a smaller group and maybe some activities. Thanks

Navia Hussain (Eden Boys School Bolton)

Absolutely super time. Many thanks.

Jonathan Leighton (Birkdale Prep School)

Details

Doctor Who, Shadow Runners, Emerald Greene writer. New teen sci-fi novel Exiles published 2019. World Book Day 2020 is reserved - please ask about other dates.

Based in Sheffield and always travel by train. Happy to do a visit in one day within reasonable train distance of Sheffield, or with overnight hotel stay if further afield.

Shadow Runners (for age 11+) is published by Chicken House. Other recent books are sci-fi thriller Exiles, 2019, and the Emerald Greene novels, Emerald Greene and the Witch Stones, 2014 and Emerald Greene: Instruments of Darkness, 2017. My BBC Doctor Who novel Autonomy - most recent paperback edition 2014 and audio edition 2019 - features the Doctor as played by David Tennant. I have also written novels for adults, non-fiction on subjects as diverse as parenting, 80s pop, Christmas, collectables, robots and politics, as well as many reluctant-reader books for Badger Learning.

I have worked on Sheffield Hallam University's Creative Writing MA, for the Workers' Educational Association, with young writers' groups and with school groups, both on school sites and out on location. I have worked with children and young people in over 400 different schools.

I offer a day made up of different activities including a talk about Doctor Who and my other writing for children, quiz, reading, book-signing and writing workshops. I have a variety of approaches to stimulate imagination, and try to bring out the best in every writer in my workshops. I aim to enable students to develop their individual writing voice. Please email to discuss requirements.

Workshops on: opening paragraphs, creating characters, science fiction/future worlds stories, ghost/horror stories, Doctor Who monsters and stories, descriptive writing.

“Daniel is both a Jack of all Trades, and a Master of them too! Fiction, non-fiction, children, young adult, adult, teaching, writing... there is nothing he has not done and nothing he cannot do. From KS3 Creative Writing Workshops to his ever popular Doctor Who talk, we are so thrilled to have him as our first ever Patron of Reading and cannot recommend him highly enough.” Danum Academy, Doncaster

“Dan's creative writing workshops were first class and had the students engaged for the whole time. He spent time with individual students, encouraging their thinking and writing. Dan came to work with KS3 and I definitely want to book him again in the future.” Bishop Vesey Grammar School, Sutton Coldfield

“We had a super day with Daniel. The activities were well suited to the age group of the children who were motivated and supported to describe their characters in detail. Daniel's talk was highly enlightening and really inspired the pupils to believe that they too could follow in Daniel's footsteps and be real authors.” Wainwright Primary Academy, Mansfield

“Daniel Blythe's visit to our school has been described by the students involved as one of the best school events ever. What really delighted us was the amount of reluctant readers and non-library regulars that visited the library after the event to borrow Daniel’s books. Throughout the event, Daniel was extremely accommodating, professional and enthusiastic. Our students really enjoyed the opportunity to share their own passions and spend time with a versatile writer. The staff thoroughly enjoyed it too. I would highly recommend him for any school event that will appeal to all students, readers and non-readers alike.” Great Barr School, Birmingham

Fees comparable with other writers in schools, and I have Public Liability Insurance up to £2 million.

Books by Daniel Blythe

I have written fiction and non-fiction including:

IBSN: 978-1912053049

Author's website

Escaping disaster on the colony ship Arcadia, ChapterSister Bethany Aurelia Kane crashes on The Edge – a penal colony where, under the leadership of Zachary Tal, fifty juvenile criminals have pulled together a kind of society. They have crops, fresh water and electrical power – and are assisted by a contingent of mechanised Drones. Storms, power failure and illness are just a few of the challenges the teenage exiles battle. As Beth accustoms herself to her new life on The Edge, she has to overcome her fears, learn ne...

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Waterstones Amazon

IBSN: 9781783337118

Author's website

There's a new pupil at St Agnes' school in the historic city of Meresbury. She's a mysterious, otherworldly girl called Emerald Greene. A girl without a past, without a family or friends. When Jess and Richie decide to befriend her, they're in for a few shocks - for Emerald lives in a mansion which doesn't exist, and can see things nobody else can see. Meanwhile, Meresbury becomes home to a series of strange events. What is the secret of the tomb which the eccentric Professor Ulverston has unearthed in an ancient sto...

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IBSN: 978-0995776104

Author's website

‘Evil is not something abstract, something invented – it comes from us, from deep within us. And, yes, there is evil here.’ Jess Mathieson finds herself spending summer in the sleepy, picturesque village of Little Brockwell. However, it soon becomes clear that the village is not as quiet as it seems. Why are the local children disappearing one by one, and where is the absent schoolmistress? What is the secret of the ancient oak known as the Whispering Tree? And are spectral horses really riding through the vill...

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IBSN: 978-1906427801

Author's website

A mysterious seaside town. Unearthly occurrences and dark dreams. What will happen when the mysteries of the Bay are revealed? A town at the end of the world. The kind of place where nothing is supposed to happen. And yet for twelve-year-old Miranda May, newly arrived and having some odd nightmares, things are rapidly getting very weird indeed. Who are the mysterious children watching her every move? What is the astonishing secret buried beneath the Seaview Hotel? And how much does the enigmatic science teacher...

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IBSN: 9781849907910

Author's website

Hyperville is 2013's top hi-tech 24-hour entertainment complex - a sprawling palace of fun under one massive roof. You can go shopping, or experience the excitement of Doomcastle, WinterZone, or Wild West World. But things are about to get a lot more exciting - and dangerous... What unspeakable horror is lurking on Level Zero of Hyperville? And what will happen when the entire complex goes over to Central Computer Control? For years, the Nestene Consciousness has been waiting and planning, recovering from its w...

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IBSN: 978-0426203971

My first novel in Virgin Books' Doctor Who range.

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IBSN: 978-1906427801

My second Doctor Who book for Virgin.

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IBSN: 978-0140267990

A seaside town in 1999. The end of the Millennium at the edge of the world. Bored, indulged 18-year-old Bel is dangerous. At the edge of her life, tensions stir and simmer in the salty air: her growing hatred for her stepmother, her disillusionment with life, her taste for danger. At the heart of it all, gleaming and bright, is the knife she carries, a talisman which will both define her and betray her. Drifting in and out of Bel’s life are the cynical JJ, the hapless Marcie and the spoilt Damien – an alignment which...

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IBSN: 978-0241140321

Faith is dead. The glamorous, enigmatic, bewitching character who was at the heart of so many people’s lives, who defined so many allegiances and loves, has gone. At her funeral, those who knew her and loved her contemplate the past and the future, and the mystery of her death. Mike, the zealous revolutionary turned property developer. His wife Nicole, whose faith has been tested in other ways closer to home. Luke, whose devotion to God has been sorely tested in the high-rises and leafy lanes of 1990s Englan...

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IBSN: 978-0749079208

They've got it all. And now they're about to lose it...Tom and Ella Barclay think they have life all worked out: they have a smart house in suburbia, two lovely children at private school, creative and interesting jobs. And best of all, a happy marriage...But beneath the surface, things are not so serene. Tired of his sedate, respectable progress through life thus far, Tom decides to embark on a tantalising adventure - to have an affair. The only snag is this proves to be rather more difficult than he'd been led to b...

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IBSN: 978-0749083113

The Eighties was the last great decade for the pop single. It was the last era in which the Top 40 chart was an event. The Encyclopaedia of Classic Eighties Pop is your guide through the heydays of Top of the Pops. This book is for you if you liked the sound of a club where the drinks were free, or if you thought that working as a waitress in a cocktail bar sounded a glamorous way of escaping your humdrum existence. It's a book for you if you knew there wouldn't be snow in Africa this Christmas, or if you sometimes s...

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IBSN: 978-0749082161

I Hate Christmas: A Manifesto for the Modern-Day Scrooge

Does the sight of a house festooned in glowing coloured bulbs with an illuminated reindeer in the garden bring you out in a cold sweat? Or is the thought of days of endless cold turkey sandwiches enough to make you become a vegetarian? And what of the adorable little carol singers - does their out-of-tune wailing and screeching set your teeth on edge? And the oh-so-annoying Christmas albums constantly on playing in every crowded shop you visit...the jumper-knitting relatives pouting to be kissed under a poisonous pla...

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IBSN: 978-1841126791

Dadlands: The Alternative Handbook for New Fathers

Irreverent and informative dads' guide.

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X Marks the Box: How to Make Politics Work for You

Why vote? Irreverent, topical, packed with useful facts and trivia.

Amazon

Collecting Gadgets and Games from the 1950s to the 1990s

A collector's guide to fascinating gadgets and games.

Amazon

IBSN: 9781784643270

The world stands on the brink of a war that could destroy everything, but fifteen-year-old Eden Boone could be the key to hope. There is another Earth-a cleaner, greener Earth-just a step away from ours, through the Gateway. Can Eden and her friends take that step and save mankind ? Reluctant reader book. Reading age: 8-9. Interest age: 12-15.

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IBSN: 978-1788372091

Sam’s world is on the brink of war. Helicopters are in the sky and there are riots in the streets. This may be his final chance to tell Cait how he feels, before everything ends. But then his invitation to the Last Party changes everything. Years later, Hope lives in a closed world under the ground. Fourteen years ago, a war destroyed everything. But Hope makes a discovery — one which will link her story to Sam’s, and will reveal the truth. About the Last Party. About the end. Across time, their stories become joined...

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IBSN: 978-1784646134

Growing up in shabby Greenwell Heights, best friends Alfie and Maya have always looked out for each other. But when media boss Magnus Gold comes into Maya's life, he has an offer that will change her world. Thanks to Gold, Maya is to become a celebrity. Alfie doesn't trust the deal from the start, and finds it hard to let Maya go. But nothing lasts forever- least of all fame... Reluctant reader novella - perils of fame and fortune. Reading age: 8–9. Interest age: 12 -15

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IBSN: 9781784641191

WOW facts series, schools reading resources. Reluctant readers.

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IBSN: 978-1784646073

Taz Jessop and her mum move into Avalon Tower- a block of ultra-modern city flats controlled by a central computer. But Taz hates her new life and misses her friends. She finds the tower block sinister and spooky. Then Taz meets Luke, the mysterious, exciting boy from the top floor, and things start to look up. For a while. Taz is in deadly danger- but has she realised this too late? Thriller - reluctant readers. Reading age: 8-9. Interest age: 12-15.

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IBSN: 978-1788372091

Joel and his older sister Elise live in an isolated farmhouse in Yorkshire. They don’t always get on, but they make the best of their life on the bleak, windswept moors. Joel is more interested in birdwatching than his studies, while partying distracts Elise from work. When a new friend, Grace, enters their lives, she turns all their assumptions upside down. Sibling relationships and adventure for reluctant readers. Reading age: 8-9. Interest age: 12-16.

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IBSN: 9781784641443

WOW facts series, schools reading resources. Reluctant readers.

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IBSN: 978-1784647025

The year: 2238. The place: Station Zero, an outpost on the Galactic Rim. It's a place where corrupt plans are hatched, where the low-life of the universe do their dark deals. Caleb Grayden is a killer for hire. A special kind of shape-shifter, he's viewed with suspicion. His latest job is easy — but what happens next is not quite what Caleb expected. Accused of murder, he has to rely on his eager young lawyer, Jandri Jax. But Caleb's story has a twist — and it's one which Jandri may regret finding out... Sci-fi - ...

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IBSN: 978-1844680795

History of robots and cyborgs from TV, films & books (as Dan Roberts).

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Keywords

80S CHRISTMAS CYBORGS DADS DOCTOR WHO DR WHO EIGHTIES FAMILY FANTASY GADGETS GAMES HI-LO HUMOUR PARANORMAL PARENTING POLITICS POP MUSIC RELUCTANT READER ROBOTS SCIENCE FICTION SUPERNATURAL TARDIS TOYS