Isabella Zophie

Isabella is the central character for each of the Zartarbia Tales. She is a feisty ten year old when the first of the stories begin and has a natural curiosity about everything. She discovers 'The Locket of Fire and Water' in her great aunt's attic which allows her to enter Zartarbia. Initially she is unaware of the huge power that the locket holds (see History of Zartarbia) or indeed the effect she has on the entire future of Zartarbia.

She is a brave child who rises to the challenge of battling with The Syndicate, even though she often finds herself in terrible danger. She is accompanied on her adventures by FADF agent Lujzka.  

(Isabella is my daughter and all the books have been written for her and Lujzka. At the moment she is not yet six years old but I figured by the time she was ten I would have finished writing all seven books)

Aunty Cis is a mischievous character who is often more like a child than adult and enjoys, amongst other things, sliding down banisters. She owns and is head mistress of Raventhorpe School which is situated in Darlington.

(She was actually my great aunt who I adored and spent many wonderful holidays with. She was always encouraging me to write, draw and use my imagination. She was a truly inspirational person to me.)

Mrs. Plum

She is the lovely housekeeper of Raventhorpe, a warm and homely person who is always smiling. (Mrs. Plum was based directly upon a lady called Jean who used to work at Raventhorpe)

Cook

An unpleasant character who hates children therefore it is somewhat surprising she work as a cook for a school. In particular she detests Isabella, who she thinks is over indulged by Aunty Cis.