Stripes signs Frozen Charlotte prequel

Little Tiger Group’s imprint Stripes Publishing has acquired a prequel to the Zoella Book Club title Frozen Charlotte and two titles in a new series by author Alex Bell.

Commissioning editor Katie Jennings bought world rights to Charlotte Says and world English language rights, with a two year licence on US rights, for the new series from agent Madeline Milburn at Madeline Milburn Literary, TV and Film Agency.

Based on the Isle of Skye, a hundred years before the events of Frozen Charlotte, Charlotte Says “reveals the origins of the demonic Frozen Charlotte dolls which torment the inhabitants of Dunvegan School for Girls”.

Jennings said: “Frozen Charlotte is one of those books that is crying out for a follow up and I was so excited when Alex said she was up for doing a prequel. From the spine-tingling opening line, this is every bit as deliciously devilish as the first book. Fans are in for a treat. Never short of ideas, especially those of the mysterious and macabre kind, Alex is also working on a new series for us, introducing a cast of unique and fantastical characters. Let’s just say, you’ll never look at travelling fairs – or clowns – in the same way again.”

A Stripes spokesperson said: “Bell’s new series revolves around the Smoke and Grimsby Travelling Fair and its haunted carousel. Featuring a strange cast of fairground characters and a protagonist who must harness supernatural abilities in order to find her missing sister, Bell has conjured a creepy and atmospheric world.”

Bell said: “I’m delighted to have the chance to explore the origins of the Frozen Charlotte dolls in a brand new story. This was something that stayed a bit of a mystery in the first book, but my thoughts kept going back to where the original dolls might have come from and how they first exerted their malevolent influence. I’m also really looking forward to writing the other two books for Stripes. The series will take place in a travelling fairground that is not quite all that it seems – expect carousels, waxworks, Victorian curiosities, sinister clowns and, of course, plenty of smoke and mirrors.”

Bell is the award-winning author of Frozen Charlotte and The Haunting in Stripes’ YA horror series, Red Eye, which was launched in 2014 to target a gap in the market. Jennings said at the time: “We thought a horror YA series was something that no-one else was really doing.”

Bell is based in the New Forest and writes young adult horror books and middle grade fantasy books. Whilst at university studying to become a lawyer, she wrote a grand total of six complete novels. Her first novel, The Ninth Circle, was published by Gollancz in 2008.

Stripes will publish Charlotte Says on 7th September as part of Red Eye. The new series will be launched in Autumn 2018.