About K M Peyton
Kathleen Wendy Herald Peyton, who writes as K.M. Peyton is a British author. She has written more than fifty novels, including the much loved Flambards series and its sequels for which she won both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Award.
She began writing when she was nine, first publishing when she was fifteen under her maiden name of Kathleen Herald; she 'never decided to become a writer...[she]...just was one'. Though she couldn't own a horse (she grew up in London), she was obsessed with them: all her early books are about girls who have ponies. After school, she went to Kingston Art School then Manchester Art School. There she met a another student, Mike Peyton (an ex-serviceman who had been a prisoner of war), who shared her love of walking in the Pennines. They married when she was twenty-one and went travelling around Europe.
When they returned to Britain, Peyton completed a teaching diploma. However, after the birth of her second daughter, she turned to writing fulltime: mostly boy's adventure stories which she sold in serialised form to The Scout magazine, and then published in full. This was when Peyton began writing under K.M. Peyton: the 'M' was her husband Mike who helped create the plots.
The Peytons loved sailing, and her first books were on that subject; soon however, she returned to her 'first love', horses, and began to write what became the Flambards series. When Peyton became involved with horse racing, she used those experiences as further inspiration for writing.
Fidra Books is currently publishing Fly-By-Night with the sequel, The Team expected in the future. Oxford University Press, Usborne Publishing and David Fickling Books also publish her work.
She began writing when she was nine, first publishing when she was fifteen under her maiden name of Kathleen Herald; she 'never decided to become a writer...[she]...just was one'. Though she couldn't own a horse (she grew up in London), she was obsessed with them: all her early books are about girls who have ponies. After school, she went to Kingston Art School then Manchester Art School. There she met a another student, Mike Peyton (an ex-serviceman who had been a prisoner of war), who shared her love of walking in the Pennines. They married when she was twenty-one and went travelling around Europe.
When they returned to Britain, Peyton completed a teaching diploma. However, after the birth of her second daughter, she turned to writing fulltime: mostly boy's adventure stories which she sold in serialised form to The Scout magazine, and then published in full. This was when Peyton began writing under K.M. Peyton: the 'M' was her husband Mike who helped create the plots.
The Peytons loved sailing, and her first books were on that subject; soon however, she returned to her 'first love', horses, and began to write what became the Flambards series. When Peyton became involved with horse racing, she used those experiences as further inspiration for writing.
Fidra Books is currently publishing Fly-By-Night with the sequel, The Team expected in the future. Oxford University Press, Usborne Publishing and David Fickling Books also publish her work.
Series
Flambards
2. The Edge of the Cloud (1981)
Flambards (1968)
Flambards in Summer (1969)
Flambards Divided (1988)
2. The Edge of the Cloud (1981)
Flambards (1968)
Flambards in Summer (1969)
Flambards Divided (1988)
Pennington
Pennington's Seventeenth Summer (1970)
Pennington's Last Term (1971)
Pennington's Heir (1974)
Pennington: A Trilogy (omnibus) (1985)
Seventeenth Summer (1994)
Pennington's Seventeenth Summer (1970)
Pennington's Last Term (1971)
Pennington's Heir (1974)
Pennington: A Trilogy (omnibus) (1985)
Seventeenth Summer (1994)
Novels
Stormcock Meets Trouble (1961)
Windfall (1963)
Brownsea silver (1964)
Sing a Song of Ambush (1964)
North to Adventure (1965)
The Plan for Birdsmarsh (1965)
Fly-by-night (1971)
The Beethoven Medal (1972)
A Pattern of Roses (1972)
The Team (1975)
So Once Was I (1976)
A Midsummer Night's Death (1978)
Marion's Angels (1979)
The Right-Hand Man (1979)
The Maplin Bird (1980)
Dear Fred (1981)
Going Home (1982)
Sea Fever (1983)
Free Rein (1983)
The Last Ditch (1984)
Thunder in the Sky (1985)
Froggett's Revenge (1985)
The Hard Way Home (1986)
The Sound of Distant Cheering (1986)
Downhill All the Way (1988)
Plain Jack (1988)
Who, Sir? Me, Sir? (1988)
Prove Yourself a Hero (1988)
Skylark (1989)
No Roses Round the Door (1990)
Darkling (1990)
Poor Badger (1992)
Late to Smile (1992)
The Boy Who Wasn't There (1992)
The Wild Boy and Queen Moon (1993)
Love Hurts (1994)
Mr. Brown (1995)
Falling Angels (1995)
The Swallow Tale (1995)
Snowfall (1996)
Unquiet Spirits (1997)
The Pony That Went to Sea (1997)
Windy Webley (1997)
Swallow the Star (1998)
Danger Offshore (1998)
Firehead (1998)
The Scruffy Pony (1999)
The Pied Piper (1999)
Blind Beauty (1999)
The Paradise Pony (1999)
Swallow Summer (2000)
Pony in the Dark (2001)
My Alice (2006)
Minnas Quest: Roman Pony Adventures (2007)
Blue Skies and Gunfire (2007)
No Turning Back (2008)
Windfall (1963)
Brownsea silver (1964)
Sing a Song of Ambush (1964)
North to Adventure (1965)
The Plan for Birdsmarsh (1965)
Fly-by-night (1971)
The Beethoven Medal (1972)
A Pattern of Roses (1972)
The Team (1975)
So Once Was I (1976)
A Midsummer Night's Death (1978)
Marion's Angels (1979)
The Right-Hand Man (1979)
The Maplin Bird (1980)
Dear Fred (1981)
Going Home (1982)
Sea Fever (1983)
Free Rein (1983)
The Last Ditch (1984)
Thunder in the Sky (1985)
Froggett's Revenge (1985)
The Hard Way Home (1986)
The Sound of Distant Cheering (1986)
Downhill All the Way (1988)
Plain Jack (1988)
Who, Sir? Me, Sir? (1988)
Prove Yourself a Hero (1988)
Skylark (1989)
No Roses Round the Door (1990)
Darkling (1990)
Poor Badger (1992)
Late to Smile (1992)
The Boy Who Wasn't There (1992)
The Wild Boy and Queen Moon (1993)
Love Hurts (1994)
Mr. Brown (1995)
Falling Angels (1995)
The Swallow Tale (1995)
Snowfall (1996)
Unquiet Spirits (1997)
The Pony That Went to Sea (1997)
Windy Webley (1997)
Swallow the Star (1998)
Danger Offshore (1998)
Firehead (1998)
The Scruffy Pony (1999)
The Pied Piper (1999)
Blind Beauty (1999)
The Paradise Pony (1999)
Swallow Summer (2000)
Pony in the Dark (2001)
My Alice (2006)
Minnas Quest: Roman Pony Adventures (2007)
Blue Skies and Gunfire (2007)
No Turning Back (2008)
Omnibus
Series contributed to
Non fiction
Awards
|
Links to other websites
| K.M. Peyton's Website |
© 2008 FantasticFiction Last Updated:
Questions? Comments? Corrections? Please email webmaster@fantasticfiction.co.uk
Questions? Comments? Corrections? Please email webmaster@fantasticfiction.co.uk

