The Enchanted Emporium

‘On a certain street in every town, quietly nestled between unsuspecting buildings and invisible to the undiscerning eye, The Enchanted Emporium waits.
The shop senses a Seeker and shimmers into life, glowing in anticipation for the journey to be taken, the knowledge and secrets to be learnt. Golden lights flicker and dance within, enticing their curiosity to step inside and explore.’

All great adventures have humble beginnings, and ours begins with a bookshop, albeit a magical one! We tend to think of all bookshops as being magical; they house endless worlds living just between the pages of a book, the experienced booksellers can help you discover new great loves, not to mention that satisfying smell of a new book.

My own adventures into literature began at an early age; I grew up surrounded by books, quoted Shakespeare non-stop, and read anything I could get my hands on. My mother’s childhood was also filled with books, thanks to my grandfather, and so our love affair with literature has been long ongoing. Perhaps that's why we were so drawn to bookshops.

My first Saturday job, at 15, was given to me by Castle Hill Bookshop, an independent store in my home town of Richmond. 

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I couldn't believe my luck, to become one of those that I had respected for so long: a bookseller. Days at work would be spent handling and talking about books, bliss! And I never wavered from that path, through the years I have always worked with books. From Waterstones to WHSmith where I currently work, and finally to The Chronicles of Destiny being published!  

So to start the story in a bookshop felt like the perfect beginning to our book - it is, after all, the threshold to another world . . . 

Ems x

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