J A Bowler
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jabowler.bsky.social
J A Bowler
@jabowler.bsky.social
780 followers 620 following 120 posts
UK based writer of children's and YA fiction and educational content. #Writing #WritingCommunity #amwriting #YA #IceCooperAndTheDeptonShadelings #TheImprobableAdventuresOfDexterDuckworth #Fiction #CliFi #ChildrensBooks

www.jabowler.co.uk
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jabowler.bsky.social
I sold some copies of these at the Southam Book Fair, one of them to a primary teacher, and I'm so pleased that Dexter will get some more readers! I worry about the part where the goblins stick prisoners on the walls of their tunnel, but I wrote it for my Y5 and 6! #UKKidLit #SpookyBooks #Halloween
The front cover of The improbable adventures of dexter duckworth, part 1: goblin earth by J A Bowler. It is a green background with silhoutte gnarly trees on both sides. In the forground is a cheeky mallard followed by a boy with a head torch emerging from a tunnel. Behind the tunnel is a smiling goblin girl with long red hair, an earring and a sharp stick.
October 16, 2025 at 4:10 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
Well I did it. It's a great little book fair, though this year i wasn't shortlisted for their flash fiction. The venue would be excellent if not for the utter lack of #ventilation! Kept my #ffp3 on all day. Still managed to chat to authors and visitors! #authorsinmasks
A co2 monitor showing 2301 parts per million at 14:21 today.
October 12, 2025 at 10:17 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
I'll be at Southam Book Fest, Sun 12/10 and yes I'll be #masked again! I don't want to. I'm not anxious. I have to remember the science to maintain my resolve. It doesn't help sales; people don't understand I'm the person definitely not infecting anyone. #Covid levels high; local hospital is full.
A woman is standing looking to camera behind a table on which there are books. Other tables with books in the room books indicate that it is a book fair. She has a poster board showing a book series entitled 'Ice Cooper'. The woman is wearing a black T-shirt over a red top. She is also wearing a black FFP3 face mask
October 8, 2025 at 4:46 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
At the #southwarwickshireliteraryfestival. @southwarkslitfest.bsky.social everything going smoothly. #mask worn for insurance, though IAQ not actually bad. It hasn't gone above 600ppm.
A woman with long hair, partly green, wearing a black ffp3 mask, is in a selfie next to a stand of her books and a poaster. These are the Ice Cooper series, The Improbable Adventures of Dexter Duckworth, and the Handy Booklet for Writing.
September 20, 2025 at 12:46 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
It's good to know that the third and final book in the #IceCooper trilogy is coming soon! If you think you might like YA character-driven fiction, grounded in reality but with a supernatural edge, I recommend reading the first two now! Available in various places! Links at www.jabowler.co.uk
The three books in the Ice Cooper series. They are shown standing against a wasteland background. Each book has an illustration within circular frame: Ice Cooper and the Depton Shadeling has a frame of tangled branches on which sits a catlike creature with yellow eyes. Inside the frame a girl walks her boxer dog among standing stones in the rain; Ice Cooper and the Beast of Bale has a frame of starlings on which sits a black panther with orange eyes. Inside the frame two teens and a boxer dog are standing in a field. In the distance is a plume of smoke rising into the sky; Ice cooper and the Daughter of hte Sea has a frame of rounded rocks on which sits a girl with long hair. Inside the frame four teens are standing in deep snow. In the distance is a stone circle.
August 30, 2025 at 4:15 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The word for December 2 is "lift"

#amwriting #writingcommunity #writers #authors #writesky #writingprompts #IceCooper
“Something like this, you mean?” he broke into her contemplation. She looked over slowly. Joe was gazing down at a huge book, open and resting on his knees as he sat cross-legged on the carpet. Ice did not see what he meant at first but then, lifting it carefully by the edges, he held up something that had been placed inside the book, but was not part of the book.
December 2, 2024 at 6:27 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
Ooh. I have to catch up. Synonym?
The #WIPSnips word for December 1st is "collect"

#amwriting #writingcommunity #writers #authors #WriteSky #writingprompts #IceCooper
They were all gathered in the one room like there was a meeting she had missed. Oscar was leaning against the sink, his disgruntled expression confirmed by an indignant folding of arms. He had grown in the year since they had been here – his father’s genetic gift of tall stature beginning to show – but his tone now was unusually petulant and childish for her normally upbeat and insightful little brother. Ice had to remind herself that at eleven years old, he was still a young child.
December 2, 2024 at 6:25 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips word for November 30th is "spite"
It's actually a word I need to use less!

#amwriting #writingcommunity #writingprompts #writers #authors #writesky #IceCooper
Azmera nodded at Ice. In spite of the mask and the dull shabbiness of her camp clothes, the woman had striking looks, with clear, almost black eyes, high cheekbones and smooth, dark skin not yet ravaged by age. Her hair was immaculately braided into patterned rows across the scalp but free at the back in a froth of tight curls. She may have been far from the comforts of home, but she was maintaining standards and her dignity.
November 30, 2024 at 1:52 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips word for November 28 is “gratitude”

#amwriting #writingcommunity #writingprompts #writesky #writers #authors #IceCooper
This passage needs work, but that's what a #WIP is, right?
Ice felt a wave of nausea at the sight of the whitened carcasses of vehicles that had been left in driveways or by the side of the road. Somewhere not far from Bale, there would be another one just like these, its unfortunate driver surely turned to ash. Ice might so easily have been the other grim occupant had she not survived the crash that had killed poor Elena. Ice had not known anything about the woman who had run the depot and taken Ice in her car when the fires came, but she gave her a silent thought of gratitude.
November 28, 2024 at 3:55 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips word for November 27 is "chemistry"
wonder if 'bond' will do and if this is the vibe. There is chemistry between my MCs too but it's awkward, as is obvious from the absence of one here.
#amwriting #writers #authors #writingcommunity #writesky #IceCooper
Ice’s anticipation that her friend would lift her out of her mood was correct. Mia’s father had stayed to dinner and the two families, seated round the table for their simple meal, was like one of those old-fashioned scenes of conviviality. It was extraordinary how sharing food played into human social behaviour, forging bonds and fostering a sense of community. It was only Joe who was absent. He had not turned up for dinner at all, though Ice had no doubt he would return some time later and feed himself on whatever was left.
November 27, 2024 at 5:30 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips word for November 24 is "gallon"

#amwriting #writingcommunity #writingprompts #writesky #writing #authors #writers #IceCooper
I hope you can forgive the content of this snip. This is one of the few containers of anything in my WIP!
“Exactly,” Joe replied. “The water is bad. This water.” He pointed down at the seemingly inoffensive stream. And we don’t mean it is being polluted by the camp. People aren’t crapping in it or anything. They have proper toilets and a tank. It is coming in with something. On the other side they have a different source – they’re not using this. It was Tem who worked it out.” He put his arm around Temba in a proprietorial and congratulatory manner that made Ice wonder at how it had come about that they were suddenly best mates.
November 24, 2024 at 1:01 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips word for November 22 is “accent”
Happy FriYAY
#amwriting #writingcommunity #writers #authors #writingprompts #WriteSky
“We have no children here like your description and it is true that I know them all. I’m sorry, she is from somewhere else – maybe the town. The parents must be near, I think.” Azmera spoke in accented but perfect English. Ice had the fleeting thought that she could have been anything in her previous life – a highly paid university academic or a surgeon. The climate took no prisoners but it was often only those who had enough money who could even afford to make the dangerous journey to somewhere they believed was safer.
November 22, 2024 at 4:11 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips word for November 21 is “swoon” #writingcommunity #writers #authors #writesky #writingprompts #IceCooper
Ever since she had fallen unconscious in the cave, she had felt a sense of apathy, and though she recognised that Oscar was right, and that fencing the refugees off away from the community without decent access to resources was not a good solution, she could not match his level of passion about it. It was as though all people were in the sinking ship anyway, and it did not really matter if they were on the deck or in the bilges. The outcome would be the same.#amwriting
November 21, 2024 at 5:48 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips word for November 20 is "worth"

#amwriting #writingcommunity #writers #authors #writingprompts #WriteSky#IceCooper
It was worth being cautious. Although humans continued to show some resistance to the bird flu that had taken such a toll on wildlife, there was a growing list of airborne infectious diseases, old and new, that hadn’t been helped by the mass movement of people and the drive to make everything appear normal.
November 20, 2024 at 3:30 PM
jabowler.bsky.social

The #WIPSnips word for November 19 is "singer" #amwriting #writingcommunity #writingprompts #writesky #IceCooper
Joe received this information silently, merely pulling a face of contemplation and rubbing his left ear before laying back on the grass and gazing up at the sky. Perhaps he was reminiscing about the great serpent made of birds that he had seen with her in Depton. Or maybe he was just thinking how she always seemed to be embroiled in some bonkers mystery. Ice sat in silence too, letting the sound of the water and birdsong fill the empty space.
November 20, 2024 at 3:28 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips word for November 18 is "manufacture"

Vibes it is then...

#WriteSky #writingprompts #IceCooper
The culprit was right there in her view as she scanned the horizon. Like some kind of aquatic behemoth, it raised a giant flat concrete body above the waves on four legs of latticed steel. Three cranes, like insectoid limbs, reached out and away from a central tower that rose several metres above the platform. A part of Ice – presumably inherited from her engineer father – could appreciate the structure for its functional and robust design. It was no mean feat to withstand the North Sea weather. But she knew too, that it was the outward sign of a world that was still addicted to the oil that was destroying it.
November 18, 2024 at 10:07 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips word for November 17 is “main”
#amwriting #writingcommunity #writers #authors #writingprompts #writesky #IceCooper
Some of these paused their game momentarily to observe her with fleeting curiosity but they quickly lost interest as she made her way towards what looked like a main gate. There was a flat-roofed cabin beside this and Ice assumed that it was some sort of office associated with administration. Against all her instincts, she forced herself to approach, rehearsing what she would say in a way that wouldn’t sound odd. From her position just outside the gate, she could peer through one of the windows to a drab, off-white interior. A person was seated inside, partially hidden from Ice by a computer screen and at this point her nerve might have given out had they not looked up and caught her eye. A dark-haired man aged perhaps thirty or so, rose from his seat and moved towards the cabin door.
November 17, 2024 at 1:36 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips word for November 16 is “elapse”. Interesting the words I don't have in my WIP. Sometimes I feel I should. Will this do for the vibe? #Writesky #Writers #Writing #IceCooper
The feeling that Ice experienced next, recalled to her instantly another night – one of storms and earthquakes where the ground had opened beneath her. This time, there was no rupture, only the sensation that the soft grass and the soil were melting away, and that she was in the company of the shadelings who were taking her through the fabric of the earth. Just as before, there was no claustrophobic panic but instead a loss of all sense of orientation or the passage of time.
November 16, 2024 at 4:28 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips word for November 15 is "gossip". It isn't used in the WIP so far, but this extract is close to the vibe. #writesky #writers #IceCooper
As if reading her thoughts, Mia suddenly blurted out, “What’s the thing with Joe, anyway? Has something happened? I mean, I know he’s a total bap, but I thought from what you said that he was getting on OK since he was under your wing type thing!” She laughed at the image and Ice did too, but it was tinged with annoyance that the subject of Joe should break the pleasant spell. She gave a small grunt of exasperation. “He’s upset with me, I suppose. He seems to be trying to make a big point of showing it by avoiding me and being away all the time. I don’t care and it’s his own fault.” Mia stopped walking and turned to face her friend. “OK...” she said, pulling a face of query that was prompting Ice to elaborate. Ice sighed and repressed an urge to giggle. It did seem childish.
November 15, 2024 at 4:35 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips word for November 14 is “trace”
#Writesky #Writing #Writers #IceCooper
Those were fires that had started indoors – because of electrical faults or a chip pan overflowing – but this fire was different. It had not been checked in its infancy and had raged from outside in, blowing through the glass windows and reaching furious levels of heat that had not left any of their staircase intact. Now they both looked upwards into the gap above their heads. There were no rooms upstairs to reach. The entire ceiling and the roof above had collapsed onto the ground floor, leaving not even a trace of rafters to form a lattice across the grey sky.
November 14, 2024 at 2:45 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
#NovemberWorldbuilders 13. towns/cities by the river/lake

The Avon runs straight through Depton where Ice encounters the shadelings previously only seen in her childhood dreams.
November 13, 2024 at 4:06 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
#top has brought out some top extracts from #writesky authors.
The #WIPSnips word for November 13 is “top”
#amwriting #writingcommunity #writingprompts #writesky #authors #writers #IceCooper
“It’s OK,” he added quickly, noting the colour draining from Ice’s face, “From what I know, they’re not exactly evil.” Oscar emphasised this with a drawn out stress on the ‘e’, and then paused before continuing, “Although I can’t say they’re exactly good, either!” he laughed. “Most lore has them as what we call ‘chaotic neutral’. So not good or bad but they do their own thing.” Ice shook her head and gazed at the table top, aware that she was breathing too quickly and attempting to bring it back to normal. It was as much to herself as to Oscar that she said, “Am I supposed to do something?”. Oscar shrugged anyway.
November 13, 2024 at 3:49 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
#WIPSnips word for Nov 12 is "dismiss"
#writingcommunity #Writers #Writesky #IceCooper
Oscar watched his father go and then dropped his head, staring at but not attending to the page of fractions. Ice could sense his dismay. His expectation was that he would be told not to get involved in things that were the domain of the adults. It wouldn’t be the first time they had been given that kind of injunction. It was a protective behaviour from their father, but she knew how it would feel to Oscar – dismissive and belittling. He had quietly proven himself several times in the last two years, often without the credit he deserved. And he was right this time too.
November 12, 2024 at 4:47 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips word for November 10 is "favorite"
#amwriting #writingcommunity #writers #writesky #writingprompts #IceCooper

Oscar is probably Ice's favourite person.
Ice smiled. Her little brother’s unfazed acceptance of things was always appreciated and his underlying good humour was infectious. If she were going to share the story, he’d be the best audience. He always had been. “Well no, actually,” she began. She hesitated. “It was like a gift, or… something. I don’t really know.” Sensing there was more to come, Oscar sat down opposite Ice and placed his elbows on the table, leaning his chin on his cupped hands and gazing at Ice with an exaggerated sweet smile of anticipation that made Ice laugh out loud.
November 10, 2024 at 9:46 PM
jabowler.bsky.social
The #WIPsnips
word for November 9 is "landscape"
#amwriting #writingcommunity #writers #authors #writesky #writingprompts #IceCooper
I've really enjoyed reading the 'landscape' snips from other authors. They've been great. I was gratified to find the word in my WIP too!
Warwickshire itself felt surprisingly like an old friend, even though she had lived there less than two years. Like the stuff of classic landscape paintings, gently sloping hills cut picturesque vistas with their remaining leafless oaks dotted across green or muddy brown fields. In the year following the drought, it had rained again, so much so that bright, flat patches of water covered many of the lower levels. In places, small, mixed woodland survived with bare broad-leaf trees, and pines that looked intensely green by contrast as they responded to the warmth and the wet weather. Ice knew it was not a healthy sign overall, but she welcomed their presence, nevertheless.
November 9, 2024 at 5:23 PM