Rachel Morrisroe
About Author
Discover a hidden world of premonitions, magical creatures and deadly dangers in Felix and the Future Agency by Rachel Morrisroe!
Rachel Morrisroe is the bestselling author of the How to Grow Magic picture books, illustrated by Steven Lenton, and the multi-award winning Beastly Besties series with Ella Okstad. Felix and the Future Agency is her first middle grade children's book.
Originally from Wales, Rachel has lived in Leeds and London and is now settled in Cheshire with her husband, two children and a very daft dachshund
Interview
May 2025
Rachel Morrisroe introduces magic and mystical premonitions in Felix and the Future Agency
When Felix's special ability to predict the future is discovered in Felix and the Future Agency, he finds himself recruited to the Future Agency; a secretive organisation hidden beneath the streets of London in its old Underground tunnels, where he must work with his new friends to defeat a deadly spectre, and find out who sent it.
Read a chapter from Felix and the Future Agency.
In this month's Q&A, Rachel tells ReadingZone about the very real Premonitions Bureau that helped inspire her story; the hidden tube lines under the streets of London; and what her special abilities might be at the Future Agency!
Q&A with Rachel Morrisroe
"I really hope all of the real-life elements in the book help to make the world tangible and the magic feel truly accessible.
I want readers to feel that they can experience this world first-hand!" Rachel Morrisroe
1. Can you tell us a little about yourself, your stories, and what brought you into writing for children?
I absolutely love creating magical worlds for readers and I'm lucky enough to be publishing stories from right across the fiction market, like the How to Grow Magic picture books with the spectacular Steven Lenton, and I have a dark and spooky tale out next year with Richard Merritt. I'm excited beyond words to be working with Paddy Donnelly and the talented folks at Simon & Schuster to launch Felix and the Future Agency.
I used to work in PR but I got into writing about nine years ago, after I had my second child. I was reading lots of stories to my boys and just thought I'd have a bash myself. It became an absolute obsession and the rest is history.
2. So what happens in Felix and the Future Agency?
Felix and the Future Agency is all about a 12-year-old boy who discovers he can see the future. When he starts to deliver his premonitions, folks at his school become fearful of him and blame him for causing the trouble that he is warning them about.
Then Felix finds himself recruited to the Future Agency, where he discovers a magical underground government department, hidden away on the disused tube tunnels of the London Underground. On the Buckingham Palace Line, Felix finds teams of Seers - folks who can see the future just like him. At last he starts to make friends, but his peace is not to last because a deadly spectre is unleashed on the London Underground and Felix must work to discover who has summoned it before it causes untold harm.
3. What inspired this world of premonitions, animal constellations and dream weaving?
The story is inspired by the little-known history of the Premonitions Bureau, a real-life hotline that was set up in the late 1960's to collect and record people's visions of the future. John Barker, who set up the Bureau, was interested in studying the science behind premonitions. He put out a call through the London Evening Standard newspaper and soon, two people caught his attention.
Kathleen Middleton and Alan Hencher seemed to be having spookily accurate premonitions. Kathleen reported a crowded platform and the words 'Charing Cross' just a few days before the Hither Green rail disaster, when a train derailed on its way into Charing Cross Station. They predicted things like plane crashes to the exact number of casualties, the sinking of ships and very sadly, they both predicted John Barker's untimely death from a sudden illness.
I could not get this story out of my head. I just kept imagining what might have happened if the Bureau hadn't wound down as it did after Barker's death. What if instead it had been brought into the government fold as the early-warning system he intended it to be? A place where folks who have premonitions receive training and when they do, they unlock far greater magical powers. The Future Agency was born!
4. Can you tell us a bit more about the Future Agency and the special talents of its operatives?
There are three magical specialisms on the Buckingham Palace Line. Firstly, there are Dream Weavers who see the future in the different dream states. Readers may recognise a few of them - Nightmares, Forty Winks, Catnaps, Deep Sleeps and Daydreams. Dream Weavers can bring their dreams to life and you'll find many Dream Weavers on Enchantment Embankment running magical shops that they have brought to life, such as Prunellas, a giant pumpkin café, and Samuel Spelling's which is a magical stationary shop.
Secondly, there are Astrologists. They are folks who see the future in the stars and they can also conjure their own celestaurs - magical star creatures - down from the constellations. If an agent is an Astrologist, they might summon their own Canis Major (a star dog), or a Leo Minor (a tiny lion!).
Finally, readers will meet the Spirit Speakers - folks who can talk to and receive their premonitions from ghosts. You might be familiar with some of the ghosts that haunt the Magic Mile. William Shakespeare is a regular at the Mary Celeste ghost pub that is moored at Traitor's Gate on the Thames but agents must be careful to avoid Henry VIII; the last time he was summoned his violent ghost had to be wrestled back before it beheaded a whole room of recruits!
Agents can be good at one, two or very rarely all three areas of the magical curriculum. Those who are expert at all three are called Blue Moons and are highly exceptional.
5. What are Felix's special talents and why does he make such a great Future agent, despite his challenges with anger and at school?
Felix is recruited for his ability to Spirit Speak. As a young person with dyslexia, Felix has always struggled with the academic system at school but when he finds himself at the Future Agency, he learns that lots of magical folk are neurodiverse. This is because to be good at magic, you need a brain that is able to work outside of the box. Being good at maths and spelling won't help you on the Magic Mile because magic requires an altogether different skillset which is often well-suited to creative neurodiverse minds.
In terms of Felix's anger, I wanted him to have flaws because I wanted him to feel really relatable. None of us are perfect and I wanted to create a character that is super likeable while still struggling with emotions, like so many of us do. He does battle to manage his temper and he has to learn throughout the story how to channel his big feelings to make them work for him. He has to learn to trust those closest to him that they love him flaws and all!
6. What do you think your special talent might be if you joined the Future Agency?
I think I'd definitely be a Spirit Speaker. I love anything dark and spooky and I'd feel really at home with the ghosts at Séance Street. I'd have to be careful not to annoy Astrid Sterne, the Head of Spirit Speaking, though! She is very strict and I'm full of beans so I'm not sure she'd appreciate my energy in the Summoning Parlour, where you have to be very calm to summon the ghosts!
7. We love the Future Agency's underground headquarters, the Magic Mile - what inspired the underground setting, and how did you go about creating this world?
I've really tried to lean into real-world magic for the setting of the Agency. The Buckingham Palace Line is inspired by a conspiracy theory that there is a secret tube line named the Buckingham Palace Line that exists to link up the Royal Family with the outside world in the event of an emergency. I have no idea if this is true or not but for the sake of the story, I have imagined that it is. Q Whitehall, where the Head of the Future Agency's office is situated, is inspired by a reported underground secret bunker of the same name. Parts of the London Underground network are still governed by the Official Secrets Act and this all added fuel to my world-building.
All of the above-ground shops that Felix and his friends visit are real. Watkins Books that plays an important role in the story is a beautiful independent magical bookshop in Covent Garden that readers can visit. I really hope all of the real-life elements in the book help to make the world tangible and the magic feel truly accessible. I want readers to feel that they can experience this world first-hand!
8. There's a dark spectre on the prowl in this world - what are your top tips for creating something so evil?
I love to base my characters in fact or mythology. The Spectre was inspired by the urban legend of Spring Heeled Jack - the terror of Victorian London, reported in penny dreadfuls as a cloaked figure with eyes of fire said to haunt the streets of the capital. I often think that when something feels close to real experiences it can feel scarier!
9. Dream weavers can 'dream up' their own shop - what might you create as a dream weaver; what would be in your dream-fulfilling store and what would it look like?
I adore dresses! I have a bit of a weakness for bright, bold and empowering clothes so I think I might conjure up a dress store with fabulous, magical garments that could give you superpowers. Hey… maybe that's an idea for a later book in the series…
10. What else do you have planned for Felix in his next adventure with the Future Agency?
I don't want to give too much away about future books but let's just say that the stakes will be high! There will be lots more real-world magic, set in real locations around London and readers will meet more characters they'll recognise from history!
Felix and the Future Agency: An explosive new children's adventure series: Volume 1
How to Grow a Dragon
How to Grow a Unicorn
