Award-winning Atherstone author releases latest book

A professional violist turned award-winning author from Atherstone has released a children's adventure book with a conservation theme.

Judy Brulo has written 'The Buried City - A Tale of Two Time Zones' as a prequel to her prize-winning Vulture Island Trilogy. Priced at £9.99, the book has the official support of the Vulture Conservation Foundation.

The 69-year-old, who trained at the Guildhall School of Music in London before performing with London Mozart Players and the City of London Sinfonia, was the 2019 winner of the Eyelands International Book Award in the children's published fiction category. She was shortlisted for the same prize in 2020 for Swords in the Sky, the third book of the Vulture Island trilogy.

The Buried City - A Tale of Two Time Zones is the eighth book Judy has published in the space of just seven years, after being inspired to take up writing by her two young grandchildren, Kaia and Taio, now aged 13.

"When they were learning to read I wrote short stories for them, almost weekly. I chose topics that I knew they were interested in," she says.

Judy's first few books were aimed at five to seven-year-olds and included A Year in the Life of Brack, a collection of stories about a Brachiosaurus Dinosaur who turns up on the twins doorstep early one Saturday morning, feline adventure anthology Cat-Lateral Damage and Boris and Doris Cat Detective Agency.

The Vulture Island Trilogy, aimed at children aged eight to 12 years, swiftly followed.

The stories were inspired by Griffon Vultures Judy spotted during her years living and working in Cyprus. The books aim to gently educate children about conservation while entertaining them with an adventure story.

Judy contacted the Vulture Conservation Foundation to fact check the first book in the series and has gone on to be a speaker at the organisation's European conference. The Vulture Conservation Foundation continues to staunchly support her work highlighting an often misunderstood species.

"I'll always remember the first time I saw a Griffon Vulture," she says. "I was driving along a coastal road in Cyprus and saw a huge bird launch itself off the cliff and over the sea. I'd never seen such a large bird in my life before.

"I thought it could be a really good starting point for an adventure story combined with the magical island of Cyprus, a boy and some archaeology."

The main characters in the Vulture Island series are Griff, a Griffon Vulture who challenges Luke, a 10-year-old boy, to investigate the mysteries of Vulture Island.

The nail-biting prequel to the Vulture Island Trilogy, The Buried City - A Tale of Two Time Zones, is hot off the press.

In this story Griff presents Luke with yet another challenge – to find Vulture Island's Buried City, the whereabouts of which has baffled archaeologists for hundreds of years.

The book sees Luke and his friends transported back in time to the Mycenaean Civilization (1,200 BC) where he meets unpredictable Greek gods and a brave young girl. What is her connection with Luke and Griff? Do they find the Buried City? What dangers will Luke and his friends have to overcome on their quest?

Judy Brulo's books are available from the Etsy bookshop BruloBooks, WHSmiths in Tamworth, Waterstones, Amazon or through her Facebook page.

Schools and other organisations can contact Judy online here.