- Behind the scenes at Usborne
All aboard the Train to Impossible Places!
It started with a flash. A green flash, as bright and quick as lightning, there and gone again.
From the moment that we read the opening line to The Train to Impossible Places by debut author P.G. Bell, we knew that we wanted this extraordinary children’s book series, from this hugely talented new writer, to be an Usborne book. Full to the brim with imagination, surprises, trolls, yellow bears, dastardly villains, and places which open your eyes to the truly Impossible...this series really does have it all.
We weren’t the only ones who were bewitched by P.G. Bell’s writing, so we took part in a 'hotly-contested auction' against five other publishers, all of whom also wanted to publish this wonderful series. But we’re happy to say we were triumphant. Hooray! All aboard The Train to Impossible Places – next stop: Usborne Towers!
The next thing to do was tell people. As this is a book about a journey to Impossible Places, where there’s magic at every stop, we had to do something at least a little bit out of the ordinary...
P.G. Bell, author of The Train to Impossible Places
So off we went to the postal museum Mail Rail, an underground railway which carried post deep beneath the streets of London for more than 70 years, until it was closed down and all but forgotten about in 2003. What better location for a photoshoot with an author who has written a book about the Impossible Postal Express (the trusty delivery service of the Union of Impossible Places) and one very special Cursed Delivery?
We’re delighted to share some of the photos from that subterranean trip with P.G. Bell.
Find out more about P.G. Bell on his website pgbellwriter.com and follow him on his journey to publication on 4th October on Twitter @petergbell.
Photographs by Tiffany Mumford.
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About the Author
Anna Howorth is Director of Global Branding & UK Marketing at Usborne. She's passionate about Usborne's mission to spark curiosity and has also appointed herself Head of Vintage Usborne with the goal of bringing back cult classics from the early days of Usborne.
