K. M. Peyton

Kathleen Wendy Herald Peyton, who writes as K.M. Peyton (born 2 August 1929, Birmingham, England), 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'. [ Peyton, i] 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 another student, Mike Peyton (an ex-serviceman who had been a prisoner of war), who shared her love of walking in the Pennines. [ Peyton, website] 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. [ Peyton, iii] This was when Peyton began writing under K.M. Peyton: the 'M' was her husband Mike who helped create the plots. [ Peyton, iii]

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. [ Peyton, iv] When Peyton became involved with horse racing, she used those experiences as further inspiration for writing.

Fidra Books has reissued "Fly-By-Night" and its sequel, "The Team". Oxford University Press, Usborne Publishing and David Fickling Books also publish her work.

Bibliography

The Flambards Series

*"Flambards" (1967)
*"The Edge of the Cloud" (1969)
*"Flambards in Summer" (1969)
*"Flambards Divided" (1981)

The Ruth Hollis Series

*"Fly-by-Night" (1968)
*"The Team" (1975)

(The Pennington Series continues the story of Ruth Hollis). Fly-By-night and The Team have now been republished by Fidra Books.

The Pennington Series

*"Pennington's Seventeenth Summer" (later republished as "Pennington's Last Term") (1970)
*"The Beethoven Medal" (1971) (a.k.a. "If I Ever Marry")
*"Pennington's Heir" (1973)
*"Marion's Angels" (later republished as "Falling Angels") (1979)

The Jonathan Meredith Series

*"Prove Yourself A Hero" (1977)
*"A Midsummer Night's Death" (1978)
*"The Last Ditch" (1984) (also published as "Free Rein")

(See also the Ruth Hollis series)

Other books

*"Sabre The Horse from the Sea" (published under her maiden name) (1947)
*"The Mandrake - A Pony" (published under her maiden name) (1949)
*"Crab the roan" (published under her maiden name) (1953)
*"North to Adventure" (1959)
*"Stormcock Meets Trouble" (1961)
*"The Hard Way Home" (1962)
*"Windfall" (1962) (also published as Sea Fever)
*"Brownsea Silver" (1964)
*"The Maplin Bird" (1964)
*"The Plan for Birdsmarsh" (1965)
*"Thunder in the Sky" (1966)
*"A Pattern of Roses" (1972)
*"The Right-Hand Man" (1977)
*"Dear Fred" (1981)
*"Going Home" (1982)
*"" (1983)
*"Froggett’s Revenge" (1985)
*"The Sound of Distant Cheering" (1986)
*"Downhill all the Way" (1988)
*"Darkling" (1989)
*"Skylark" (1989)
*"No Roses Round the Door" (1990)
*"Poor Badger" (1990)
*"The Boy Who Wasn’t There" (1992)
*"Late to Smile" (1992)
*"Apple Won’t Jump" (1992)
*"The Wild Boy and Queen Moon" (1993)
*"Snowfall" (1994)
*"The Swallow Tale" (1995)
*"Mr Brown" (1995)
*"Swallow Summer" (1996)
*"Swallow the Star" (1997)
*"Unquiet Spirits" (1997)
*"The pony that went to sea" (1997)
*"Windy Webley" (1997)
*"Danger Offshore" (1998)
*"Firehead" (1998)
*"Plain Jack" (1998)
*"The Paradise Pony" (1999)
*"The Scruffy Pony" (1999)
*"Blind Beauty" (1999)
*"The Pied Piper" (1999)
*"Horses" ("Non fiction") (2000)
*"Stealaway" (2001)
*"Pony in the Dark" (2001)
*"Small Gains" (2003)
*"Greater Gains" (2005)
*"Blue Skies and Gunfire" (2006)
*"Minna's Quest" (2007)

*"My Alice"
*"Grey Star, the Story of a Racehorse" (published under her maiden name)

References

"Fly-By-Night", Introduction by Kathleen Peyton, Edinburgh: Fidra Books, 2007
* [http://www.kmpeyton.co.uk/index.htm K.M. Peyton's Website]

Notes

Links

* [http://www.kmpeyton.co.uk/index.htm K.M. Peyton's Website]
* [http://www.pyenet.co.nz/familytrees/peyton-k-m/ About KM Peyton]
* [http://www.pyenet.co.nz/familytrees/peyton-k-m/ Reviews of some of KM Peyton's books and series]
* [http://www.fidrabooks.com/peyton.html Fidrabooks page about K M Peyton]