Mrs Cartwright described the book, which was set in a virtual computer world, as ‘‘a rattling good adventure'' which was ‘‘a lot of fun to write''.
The story revolves around two cousins who unexpectedly find themselves inside a computer game battling for their lives and trying to save a real person from real enemies.
Mrs Cartwright said the computer game was based on the sorts of games that had been popular when her son, Carl, had been growing up.
Carl was a now computer ‘‘guru'' who worked in Brisbane fixing problems in computer software systems and he had been her main adviser while writing the book.
Mrs Cartwright originally wrote the story for eight to 10-year-olds, but the publisher asked her to revamp the book for an older age group.
She was given just a month to increase the word count by 20,000 and change the vocabulary and characters to suit readers aged 12 and older.
‘‘It wasn't easy. It was just over Christmas [last year]. It was horrendous, actually. I wouldn't do it again but I thought it was a good story that kids would love.''
Mrs Cartwright said the book should appeal to a wide age range.
Her six-year-old grandson Cooper, who lived in Brisbane and was already a keen computer game player, was ‘‘thoroughly enjoying it being read aloud to him''.
Mrs Cartwright is a prolific children's author, having published dozens of novels, picture books, poems, stories and journals as well as many educational school readers.
She specialises in the school market and has recently been writing adventure stories in trilogy series for reluctant high-school readers.
‘‘I'm writing a bit less now than what I was and indulging in a few other things.''
These included researching a family tree and ‘‘fiddling about trying to paint'', which she found ‘‘therapeutic'' because there were no deadlines.
- Jenny Collier
