Tales of The Hiole

How to say it

Hee-ole. The “ole” is “hole” without the h. My wife says Hi-ole, and occasionally he-hole, and I have stopped correcting her. Not quite a hill, not quite a hole.

What it’s about

The dreams of children are the most magical places, where anything is possible and there are no limits. Where entire worlds, even life itself, can be created with just a thought.

In one such amazingly ordinary world, imaginations collide and fantastically normal beasts are born. The land of The Hiole provides a safe place for these creatures to call home. The guardian of The Hiole and its residents is a creature known as The Frox. Half frog, half fox, this magnificent being has been charged with their safe-keeping. The Frox must guide these creatures back to finish their dreams. To remind them of who they came from and to ensure that their dreamers’ imaginations continue to flourish.

This story introduces the first ever guest of The Hiole, Lord Regibald. The Frox must find, befriend, and help him finish the dreams he was created in. If The Frox can’t convince Lord Regibald to travel back, his creators will be stuck in their unfinished dreams every night, unable to create anything new.

The opening

I want to begin by telling you a story. It’s a story of a magical, ordinary place. In a land on the other side of the world, just around the corner. A place that is so far away that it takes 6 and a quarter seconds to get there. A place so amazing that nothing ever happens. This place is called “The Hiole”. Some say it’s a hill, some say it’s a hole. They say it’s as tall as the sky, yet as deep as the ocean. You can spend days wandering around it, or step right over it. It’s magical and amazing, yet ordinary and boring.

Hear it

This is me reading the book in the same voice I used when I originally made up the story for my daughter. First time hearing it back, and I’m surprised I haven’t mentally scarred my children.

Me reading Tales of The Hiole

And the opening scene with an animated narrator, made in 2025 when I should have been doing something else.

Tales of The Hiole opening scene, animated narrator

How it started

It began as a bedtime story I made up on the spot and couldn’t remember the next morning, which was a problem, because my daughter could. The whole story of how it went from that to a book with my name on it is in So I wrote a book….

The first physical copies arrived on 9 February 2022. My actual book. That I wrote. Me. Launch day was 24 February and it snowed, which I took as a good sign because I love the snow.

Not long after, my wife’s sister sent word that her kids had loved it and invented their own creatures for The Hiole: the Lizat (lizard, cat) and the DuckPenguin (duck, penguin, obviously). That is the whole point of the thing, so if your kids make one up, I want to hear about it.

What people said

“A hidden gem. I fell in love with the Hiole and when I turned the last page, I was disappointed because I wanted more stories and stay longer with the Frox and the other lovely characters.”

Annarella, five stars, annarellix.tumblr.com

The book went on a blog tour in April 2022. Narratess ran a spotlight with an extract. Aimee at What Aimee Reads reviewed it and interviewed me, and told me afterwards it was her most-viewed interview on the site at the time. Bookish Blue interviewed me too, and that one is below because the site has since gone.

Author Q&A

Questions from the Bookish Blue blog tour stop, April 2022. Answers unchanged.

What is your favourite thing about writing books?

Definitely the freedom. When you’re writing, you’re in control, unless you have an overactive imagination like me, then it’s hit and miss whether I’m in control or my hyperactive brain. You can mould the world to be and do whatever you need it to. It’s so much fun. When you first start creating a world you have this little corner of you. There are no restraints, no rules, no limits to what you create. That’s definitely the best part. After that though, you have to remember what you’ve previously created so all the different parts of your world join together neatly. It’s still super fun, but the more you create the more you have to slow down and structure the thought processes. Which isn’t always easy.

Who is your favourite character in your book and why?

It would definitely have to be The Hiole itself. The Hiole is essentially “imagination incarnate”. It’s a physical representation of the imagination, which is why it is constantly changing form. This character gives my brain the most freedom when writing about it, I don’t have to keep track of any details of looks, or size, or actions. The Hiole is everything at all times, but sometimes nothing. It’s a chaotic beauty that lives in all of us.

What is your favourite drink to consume while writing?

My two go-to drinks are black coffee, or sparkling water. I’m one of the strange ones that enjoys the taste of fizzy water. I have a SodaStream set up in my office purely for keeping me in stock of fizzy water.

Do you have any bad habits while you’re writing?

I’m definitely a procrastinator. While I’m in full flow, it’s all good. As soon as I hit a minor thought block or I’m having a moment where I have too many thoughts at once, my mind will drift to other things. Then before I know it I’m on my phone, or I’ve gone out on my bike and that’s apparently me done for the day.

How did you research your book?

It’s difficult to research imagination without taking the fun out of it. Mostly, me and my daughter would make up bedtime stories on the spot. We even came up with a system to keep it from becoming too difficult. Pick a colour. Pick a living object. Pick a colour. Pick a non-living object. These two items would then form the base of the story. This not only helped to form some crazy objects, but it helps to keep the spark of imagination lit.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I would say more of a pantser. (Although I did have to Google this to find out what they were.) This book was a 100% pantser creation. However, I’m currently writing the next one and have had to plot out what happens right from the start. This wasn’t intentional, I find the pantser approach a lot more fun, but before I had even started writing it, my imagination had already played out the whole story for me and I had to write it down so I didn’t lose it.

If you could live in any fictional world, which would you choose and why?

Discworld. Definitely. Terry Pratchett had such an amazing way of describing his worlds. Every cobblestoned street, every magical building, every weird and wonderful being. Everything was immersive and fun. When they brought the Discworld stories to TV, they did not disappoint (Christmas isn’t Christmas in this house without watching The Hogfather). It was exactly as I imagined it would be from the books.

If you could befriend any fictional character, who would you choose and why?

Tony Stark. The imagination and drive of Tony would be so intoxicating and inspiring. His hyperactive personality and his focussed determination would make brainstorming sessions amazingly fun. That, and he has Iron Man suits lying all over the place. Maybe he’d let me have a go in one?

Book two

Book two has been a “work in progress” since I published book one. It’s an extension of the original, with new creatures, and a mysterious new character who enters the story. As I put it back in 2022: there’s a new creature created by The Hiole, there’s an underlying mystery, there’s more background and storyline around The Hiole itself. There’s basically just more.

It exists mostly in my head, which is the least useful place for it. When it’s on paper, it’ll be here.