Curley's first fantasy novel, "Old Magic", was sold to the London-based Bloomsbury publishers in 2001. It is about a boy with supernatural powers and a girl who helps him to control them. The first book in her "Guardians of Time Trilogy" was published in 2002. It was called "The Named", about a group of teenagers who travel through time to stop the Order of Chaos from changing the course of history. The book received positive reviews from several critics. Curley signed a 12-month contract with Warner Bros. with the idea of making a television series based on the books. They hired a producer, director and paid for a script of the first episode to be written. However, the WB eventually cancelled the deal. The second and third books, "The Dark" and "The Key", were published in 2003 and 2004. Both received mixed reviews.