A: I needed something that would act as a bit of a red herring for the action but I also wanted there to be something of import in the box. What is inside the box helps Lily to learn more about her past. Q: This is your third Cogheart book, do you enjoy revisiting the world? How do you go about thinking of new adventures for your lead characters, Lily, Robert and Malkin, or did you have these planned out when you began the Cogheart series?

A: There is an theme park in France called Les Machines De L'Ile where they have all kinds of mechanical animals to ride on. I went there when I was researching the books. A: I love revisiting the world, yes, because it means I can find out more about it and the characters. As long as there are new places to take them and new mysteries to solve it will always be interesting.

A: I would like to take a trip on Ladybird, which is Anna Quinn's airship. I think she would be a fun pilot to travel with and I love the idea of a small and comfy dirigible - a bit like a caravan or barge - that flies about here and there. Q: During this adventure we meet a child who is a 'hybrid' and who can fly. If you could be part mechanical, what part(s) of you would you choose to be mechanical, or would you want to have built to give you special skills?

A: One of my favourite parts of London is around Spitalfields Market where you have those Georgian Streets like Fournier Street that feel like you're walking through history.Peter is now also an author following publication of his first children's books, Cogheart, which was published in 2016 by Usborne. He is currently writing full time and the sequel to Cogheart is due to be published in 2017. A: Having decided to write about automatons I had to find a world they would fit in. I knew I wanted to write a big action adventure story and I decided I could bring these together more easily in a 'Steampunk' world than a more factual historical fiction. Q: There is a mystery at the heart of the novel, the box that Lily discovers and which the villains want. Why do you make this the driver of the story? So my advice is, never throw anything away. (In terms of writing I mean. Obviously in real life throw some things away - you don't want to be drowning in stuff!)

Author Luke Palmer introduces his new book, Play (Firefly Press) about four boys growing up together, the challenges, the friendships, and what hap... It is originally dated September 1, 2016, and set in the 1896 London. Named after a character’s cog implant, Cogheart’s protagonists are: a guardian foxy automaton called Malkin; a steampunk inventor’s daughter called Lily, aged eleven; and a boyish go-between named Robert whose mother’s whereabouts are unknown.A: I do have one more adventure currently planned for Lily, Robert and Malkin. I can't really say anything about it at the moment because it's top secret. But maybe there's a little clue to something that happens in the story in the answer about where I would travel in an airship.