Sir Chocolate stops by #LisaBurtonRadio

Hey there all you conquistadores and knights in shining armor. Today is Thursday, and you know what that means. It’s time for Lisa Burton Radio. I’m your host, Lisa the robot girl, bringing you another fabulous interview with one of the characters you love from your favorite books. My guest today is Sir Chocolate. “Welcome to the show, um, Sir.”

“Thank you, Lisa, I am delighted to be here. You don’t mind if I try up the air conditioning, do you? It is a bit warm in here and I don’t want to start melting.”

“I’m kind of indifferent to temperatures, so help yourself. I understand you’ve taken up a quest, as knights often do. Can you tell our listeners what kind of challenge you’re facing?”

“Lady Sweet and I own a chocolate factory where we make chocolate goodies, sugar mice and other sugar decorations that we sell in our chocolatier. One of our most popular products is our range of homemade soda pop which we make using sugar water from the Sugar Crystal Cave. This cave is nestled at the heart of the Chocolate Chip Hills. To get there we have to cross the chocolate mousse swamp which is infested with alligator sours, who feed on travelers, giant mosquitos and a fondant ghost.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad. I mean chocolate mousse swamp ought to be a pretty good time. I know several female authors who would happily move there.”

“The chocolate mousse swamp is a great place to stop for a snack. There are delicious marshmallow flowers to enjoy with a dollop of chocolate mousse on top, the only problems are the alligator sours and fondant ghost.”

“There’s always a catch, isn’t there. So what do you do to avoid those hazards?”

“Well, the alligator sours are very fond of the sugar mice I make so I bring a bag of those along to distract them with. I cleverly laid down some chocolate disk stepping stones which helps Lady Sweet and I cross the swamp. The fondant ghost haunts the swamp at night so we get around that by always crossing it during the day time. Once across, we always stop and have a chat and a picnic with the marshmallow sheep who told us the story of the Candy-striped Roc. That is how we knew he was lonely and needed a friend.

“On this latest trip to the Sugar Crystal Cave, the marshmallow sheep warned us that something strange was afoot. The area around the cave was warmer than usual and there were sobbing sounds coming from inside.

“When Lady Sweet and I arrived we quickly saw that something was wrong. The temperature was so high we had to put on our quick freeze suits to make sure we didn’t melt. Once inside we saw the sugar crystals were all starting to melt. Something had to be done or our famous soda pop would be at risk as we use the sugar water run off to make it in my chocolate factory.”

“Bummer. How will you make your soda now?”

“Well, when we ventured inside we came across a very miserable Baked Alaska Dragon. A magnificent creature who breathes fire in different seven different colours depending on his mood. The dragon was very sad and depressed and his fire was blue. Although he looked very fierce, I know something had to be done to save the sugar crystals and cheer up this anguished creature. He was very nice when we approached him and explained that he was very lonely as everyone was afraid of him because of his fierce looks.”

“I know this one author, who shall remain nameless, that could probably slay that dragon in one setting. So what are you going to do?”

“Well, Lisa, in Chocolate Land we prefer to find nonviolent solutions to problems. What this dragon needed was a friend. Lady Sweet remembered the conversation with the marshmallow sheep and their comments that the Candy-striped Roc was also very lonely as he was another scary and fierce creature. We decided to introduce the two creatures and they hit it off straight away. The Baked Alaska Dragon’s fire changed colour to yellow with happiness that very same day. They decided to live together in the Roc’s nest high up in the Chocolate Chip Hills.

“With that problems solved, Lady Sweet and I rushed back to the Sugar Crystal Cave. We had a high powered portable fan that we carry around to keep things cool. We turned this on high and the temperature soon returned to normal and the crystals hardened. We were able to gather more sugar water than usual due to the initial melted state of the sugar crystals so we went home very happy. We won’t need to make this journey again for quite a while as we have plenty of sugar water to keep us going in our factory.”

“That sound like a wonderful solution, Sir. Do you have any closing remarks for us today.”

“Well, we find in Chocolate Land that most fierce creatures also have a kind and tender side. If you can discover this side then they will usually be much more helpful. Look at the trolls, Stinkpot and his wife, who have helped us out more than once after we got to know them a bit better. Most creatures are also keen to help save their environment if it is at all possible so we always get the help we need on our adventures.”

“You can read all about Sir Chocolate’s quest in the book Sir Chocolate and the Sugar Crystal Cave, by Robbie Cheadle and Michael Cheadle. This book also comes with five outstanding recipes, including one that shows you how to make those beautiful sugar crystals yourself. Sounds like a great book to read with your children, and it gains longevity as a craft session later.

“Robbie provided some wonderful photos, and I’ll add those to the website. Don’t forget to click on those sharing buttons today. Sir Chocolate, Robbie, and Michael would do it for you when your character appears on the next Lisa Burton Radio.”

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Sir Chocolate and Lady Sweet journey to the sugar crystal caves to collect the sugar water they need to make their soda pop. To get to the Chocolate Chip Hills they must cross the Chocolate Mousse Swamp infested with alligator sours and a meringue ghost. When they arrive, they discover that the sugar crystals are melting, and something needs to be done to save them. Learn how to make some four fun creations out of biscuits and the sugar crystals too.

Purchase your copy here and here.

Robbie Cheadle was born in London in the United Kingdom. Her father died when she was three months old and her mother immigrated to South Africa with her tiny baby girl. Robbie has lived in Johannesburg, George and Cape Town in South Africa and attended fourteen different schools. This gave her lots of opportunities to meet new people and learn lots of social skills as she was frequently “the new girl”.

Robbie is a qualified Chartered Accountant and specialises in corporate finance with a specific interest in listed entities and stock markets. Robbie has written a number of publications on listing equities and debt instruments in Africa and foreign direct investment into Africa.

Robbie is married to Terence Cheadle and they have two lovely boys, Gregory and Michael. Michael (aged 11) is the co-author of the Sir Chocolate series of books and attends school in Johannesburg. Gregory (aged 14) is an avid reader and assists Robbie and Michael with filming and editing their YouTube videos and editing their books. Robbie is also the author of the new Silly Willy series the first of which, Silly Willy goes to Cape Town, is now available.

You can follow along with Robbie at the following places:

Blog

Goodreads

Google+

Facebook: @SirChocolateBooks

Twitter: @bakeandwrite