Author releases third spy novel in series

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Ashburton author Rachel Booth is turning her childhood spy games into a novel series for children...
Ashburton author Rachel Booth is turning her childhood spy games into a novel series for children. Photo: Ashburton Courier
The espionage and intrigue continues in Ashburton author Rachel Booth’s latest book, Spy School Drama! 

It is the third book in the Mr Is School for Spies series first drafted by Booth 20 years ago.

The series, which spans one year, follows a 13-year-old girl called Jo, and her new friends, in training as a spy at the school.

Jo is following in her late mother’s footsteps. She was a secret agent who died in a car accident.

The first book in the series was printed in 2013 and the second in 2015.

‘‘It took a long time because I had to learn my craft. I had to learn how to be a writer,’’ she said, despite writing from a young age.

‘‘It’s ongoing, it doesn’t stop.’’

Spy School Drama! is part of The Mr Is School for Spies series. Image: Supplied
Spy School Drama! is part of The Mr Is School for Spies series. Image: Supplied
The series has grown from a passion Booth developed while a pupil at Papatoetoe Intermediate School in Auckland.

‘‘I used to play at spies as an intermediate-aged girl,’’ the 40-year-old said.

‘‘I was just making secret agencies. I made the Mr Is Agency when I was 12, with a friend called Melissa … that’s where the passion has come from; the joy of pretending to be a secret agent and a detective.’’

Booth, who writes under her maiden name, is married to children’s librarian Jonathan Nixon. The couple have two young children aged six and three.

‘‘When they’re sick I can’t write,’’ Booth said.

‘‘When they are well, and at kindy and school, I type really fast; and when they sneeze, I type even faster.’’

Along with finding time to write her series, Booth does editing and proof reading work for others. Her website is clickandcorrect.weebly.com

She also does weekly music and movement sessions for children aged under five at St David’s Church, in Allenton. It runs each Thursday, restarting February 8.

In the latest book, first year student Jo and her friends are putting on a musical production about Mata Hari. She was a World War I spy who danced for her enemies to garner information.