The Steps Up the Chimney

The Magician's House Quartet

Thirteen-year-old William Constant and his two younger sisters, Mary and Alice, have come to ancient, mysterious Golden House in Wales for the holidays. Their lives will never be the same once they enter the Magician's House -- and discover their destiny.

William knew something was wrong from the moment they arrived at the railroad station on the border of Wales. First came the stranger who said his name was Steven. "Remember me," he said. Then he vanished. By the time they reached Golden House, even Mary and Alice felt something odd. Who -- or what -- are the strange animals...a fox, a dog, an owl...that seem to be able to read their minds? Why is it that sometimes the children even see out of the eyes of the animals and hear with their ears? And what is that prickling sensation pulling them toward the secret steps up the chimney? Nothing can stop them as they are drawn deep into the old house, into the realm of the Magician.

William Corlett, after being educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh, trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He soon started writing plays for the theater, including The Gentle Avalanche and Return Ticket, which were performed in London. Many television plays followed, including the award-winning series Barriers, for which he received the Writers' Guild Award for Best Children's Writer and a Gold Award at the New York International Film and Television Festival. His script for the children's series The Paper Lads won him another Writers' Guild Award for Best Children's Writer.

Between 1978 and 1988, William wrote a number of novels for young adults, including The Gate of Eden, The Land Beyond, Return to the Gate, The Dark Side of the Moon, Bloxworth Blue, and The Secret Line. He also co-wrote The Question Series, which is a series of six books about world religions. His adaptation of the Jill Paton Walsh novel Torch was filmed by Edinburgh Films during 1990 and earned him another nomination for the Writers' Guild Best Children's Writer of the Year Award. In addition, his adaptation of the Elizabeth Goudge novel The Little White Horse was shown on BBC in 1994 and won a Silver Award at the New York International Film and TV Festival. William Corlett's Magician's House Quartet, originally published by The Bodley Head in London recently became a major BBC television series. The Summer of the Haunting, a contemporary ghost story, is his most recent novel for young readers.