Ooh la! In which I get interviewed...

The Writing Cave...

So, here's how it goes, I read a book, I offer to do an author interview (or I'm asked to do one) - frequently a tough one. Well, ha! The table was recently turned on me and Kim Koning of The Dragonfly Scrolls asked if she could interview me! Me? Why me? How could I possibly be interesting, have something worth saying? Oh crisis of confidence! I hoped Kim would go easy on the interviewer...

I have to say, it was a lot of fun and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Am now available for interview gigs. Any offers? Just kidding - for now...

So, if you want to learn more about my writery ways, what's influenced me along the way, how I work, where I work and so on, then take a look at Kim's interview with me.

Given that I'm still in a state of shock at the experience (not really, I'm just overwhelmed with other stuff), the interview will serve as this week's post! How's that for a neat cop-out?

Even my writing pal, Fless, got a look in...

An interview with children's author, Pat Walsh

It’s such a treat when someone you know becomes published. I think, as a “pre-published” writer, one rather hopes some of their good fortune will rub off on you! So it was with great excitement that I learned that Pat Walsh’s book, The Crowfield Curse, had been published by Chicken House.

I was fortunate enough to be in a small critique group with Pat several years ago. I knew the minute I read her work that it wasn’t going to be long before she was noticed. I also knew when I read the first few chapters of The Crowfield Curse (or The Crowfield Feather as it was then called) that Pat was writing a wonderfully lyrical and magical story.

The Crowfield Curse has just the right blend of everything – old magic, horror, suspense, thrills, fairies, monks and an orphaned boy with tremendous courage and compassion – and the Sight.

Pat’s characters are beautifully realised and depicted, from Will, the main character to Brother Walter, the hob whom Will rescues from a trap, from the mysterious Shadlok and his master, the leper Jacobus, to the monks of Crowfield Abbey. Together with rich characterization, Pat’s ability to evoke wonderful descriptions of the times (the story is set in 1347) brings the story vividly to life and it makes for an “unputdownable read”.

The Crowfield Curse is a story that will appeal to fans of Catherine Fisher, Dianna Wynne Jones, Susan Cooper and Steve Augard.


An Interview with Pat Walsh:

Children's author, Pat Walsh
(image courtesy of the author)

When I first started reading The Crowfield Curse, I hadn’t a clue the story would end as it did – and I found the ending, although absolutely right, unexpected. As the writer, did you plot The Crowfield Curse from beginning to end, or did the story, as is often the way, lead you to where it wanted to go?

When I began the book, I only knew it would be about an angel, found dying in the snow a hundred years before the story begins. I had no idea how the angel got there, or who killed it. I plotted out the first few chapters and was wonderfully lucky to be part of an online critique group who read and commented on the work as it progressed. (Thank you, Nicky!) Having that feed-back was just brilliant. After that, the story unfolded little by little. I would write a chapter or two and then stop and make notes as ideas for the next chapter presented themselves. The original ending of the book was different from the one that was published, but I wasn’t happy with it. After it was accepted for publication, my editor at The Chicken House, Imogen Cooper, asked me to look at the ending again. By that time, I had enough distance from the book to see what was wrong with it and put it right. If I’d worked out the plot of the story at the beginning, it would have made life a lot easier, but I just don’t seem to be able to write like that.


You’ve created a wonderfully sympathetic character in Will – has he been very alive for you as a character and in what way did he influence the “shape” of the story?

Will is a kind of ‘everyman’. He sees the strange world of magic unfold around him but is not a part it, nor is he involved in the religious life of the abbey. Hopefully, this allows the reader to identify with him. The reader and Will experience the magical and mystical elements of the story together, as outsiders. I’m fond of Will, he’s had a terrible couple of years and has come through them pretty well. Shortly after I began the book and was still trying to get to know my characters, I was on a train and a young boy of about fourteen got on. He was skinny and blond haired and was exactly right for Will. The poor boy is probably still telling his friends about the crazy stalker woman who sat and stared at him all the way from St.Albans to London!


You introduce a fascinating blend of medieval Christianity with the “old ways” of nature worship in The Crowfield Curse, which hints at how much has been lost in our understanding of the natural world. Is this something you personally feel strongly about?

It’s something I feel very deeply about. I look around at my small patch of England and see fields being developed for housing and new road systems, woods being cut down, orchards grubbed up. The ‘old ways’ are no longer a part of everyday 21st century life. We’ve become disconnected from nature in a way that has never happened before, and I think that’s a very dangerous thing. There are a million small, and not so small, tragedies playing out around the world every day. We’re losing rainforests at an unprecedented rate, entire species are being driven to extinction, oceans are being polluted, the list is depressingly long, and we’re not doing enough to stop it. We no longer respect nature and we’ve forgotten our place in it. OK, rant over.


I have to ask, given the way you seamlessly blend magic into the Crowfield world – do you believe in hobs and the fay – even if just a little bit?

I would love to believe in fays and hobs! I had an invisible friend as a child, and apparently I saw a leprechaun when I was five – though I don’t actually remember that. Since then, the fay have been keeping a low profile, but I live in hope…


Despite the dark elements of the story, which one sees in the Unseelie King, and to some extent in the Prior, you’ve nevertheless created a story filled with kindness, courage, compassion and ultimately hope. How important do you believe it is to create a balance like this in stories for young people?

It would be unrealistic to write a story that was relentlessly upbeat, full of good people doing nice things. A story with both good and bad characters is more believable and more satisfying. I think young people aren’t afraid of serious issues or dark elements in story, but they need a hopeful ending.


You work on archaeological sites and digs – to what extent does your “day job” influence your writing and do you find yourself more inclined to write historically based fantasy?

I’ve been involved with archaeology for most of my life, so it’s bound to have an effect on what I write. One thing I’ve always found, though, is that we can excavate settlements and pottery and other artefacts, but we can’t get close to the people. We can dig up their bones but we only get glimpses of the kind of people they were, what they believed in, what they thought, or even, once we get back to prehistory, what languages they spoke. Writing historical fiction is a way of putting flesh back on the bones. Writing fantasy with a historical background is a natural extension of that; it’s a way of exploring another dimension of those ancient lives.


The Crowfield Curse, as it currently reads, stands alone, yet there is clearly room for a sequel. Did you intentionally write a stand-alone novel or did you always intend to write more than one book? And if there is a sequel, can you tell us a little about it, just as a teaser?

I always intended William’s story to continue over several books. There are loose ends in the Crowfield Curse which are tied up in the next two books. The sequel, due out in early 2011, answers the question of what brought the angel to Crowfield Abbey a hundred years ago. It is a much darker book and deals with some disturbing ideas. There was one scene that made me feel very nervous as I wrote it, so much so that I had to get my coat and go and find a nice, cheerful coffee shop to sit in for an hour. With real people. I have since toned down that scene …


What has the road to publication been like for you – has it been a long slog or have you found it relatively easy to get published?

It has been a long, long slog! Like many writers, I have had my fair share of rejection letters. I have several unpublished novels taking up space on my PC, one or two of which I will rewrite one day. The rest are part of the learning process. I began the Crowfield Curse in 2007 and by a huge stroke of luck that was the year The Times/Chicken House children’s writing competition began. I sent off my book and it was shortlisted. It didn’t win (Emily Diamand’s wonderful book Reaver’s Ransom, now called Flood Child, won), but Chicken House decided to publish it anyway.

Several years ago, I was advised not to write historical fiction as it was very hard to sell, and not to even think about a fantasy based historical book, because publishers wouldn’t touch it with a barge-pole. I didn’t listen and went ahead and wrote Crowfield because that was what I really wanted to write. Luckily for me, The Chicken House are brilliant publishers who are willing to take a chance on work that does not have an immediately obvious market niche. I’d heard it said that getting published was often a matter of luck - getting your book before the right person at the right moment, and in my case that was absolutely true.


Who or what would you say are the key influencers of your writing?

Archaeology, the supernatural, myths and legends, and folklore have all been huge influences. I grew up with an Irish mother and grandmother who told wonderful ghost stories. When I was a child and teenager growing up in Leicestershire, we were the only family in my neighbourhood who celebrated Halloween - not the way it’s celebrated now but the traditional Irish way. We carved Swedes and turnips instead of pumpkins (not easy, believe me!). My mother baked a barm brack – an Irish fruit loaf, with a pea, bean, coin, rag, stick and a ring baked into it. What you found in your slice of brack would be a portent of the year to come. How none of us ever choked on a coin or got a bit of stick wedged in our throats, I’ll never know. And always, there would be ghost stories. My grandmother, especially, lived with one foot in this world and one in the next. How could I fail to be inspired by such a woman?

There are so many writers whose work I’ve loved over the years and who have influenced me and inspired me. I couldn’t begin to list them all here, but amongst them would be John Gordon, Robert Westall, Susan Cooper, Alan Garner, Neil Gaiman, Paul Magrs, Cassandra Clare, Holly Black and Tove Jansson.


And finally, where to from here for Pat Walsh?

After the Crowfield stories are complete, there are two books I want to write – one is a historical fantasy but it is very different in feel and setting from The Crowfield Curse. The other is a contemporary ghost story. I also have a picture book planned. And after that? I have no idea, but I’m looking forward to finding out!


Many thanks to Pat for doing this interview and I truly hope she goes on to more great things, she certainly deserves it!

Learn more about Pat Walsh and The Crowfield Curse on Pat's website.
Buy the book from either Amazon or Chicken House.
Read author Mary Hoffman's review of The Crowfield Curse in the Guardian

An interview with debut children's author, Jon Mayhew

I first “met" Jon Mayhew through this wonderful portal called blogosphere. It was about four years ago and we had both recently started blogging and, as is the way of the blogosphere, fell in with the same group of bloggers.

I recall, at the time, reading a short extract of his novel in progress, for children, Mortlock and I also remember Jon wondering how he was ever going to get the book right and get it published. I suggested to him that he join the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and I also mentioned that it seemed that several people were using a writing consultancy called Cornerstones.

Over the years, I looked on as Jon did indeed join the SCBWI, went on one of Cornerstones’ self-editing courses, wrote and rewrote and then rewrote some more and ultimately landed himself an agent – Sarah Davies of the Greenhouse Literary Agency. There was lots more rewriting but it wasn’t that long before Mortlock was snapped up in a three book deal by Bloomsbury. On 30th March 2010 Jon had his official book launch with Mortlock hitting the shelves on the 5th of April 2010.

The suitably atmospheric setting in Shoreditch, London, for Jon's book launch
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

Jon with fellow members of the British chapter of the SCBWI at his launch
(image courtesy of Sue Eves and Candy Gourlay)

I was extremely worried that for some reason I wouldn’t like Mortlock, but it is a brilliant romp and I read it in one sitting. Aimed at children of 10 + years, Mortlock is the wonderfully atmospheric story of orphaned Josie and her twin brother Alfie. They’ve never met, but when they do, it’s to unravel the mystery of their shared legacy, the secret of the Amarant - a magical and powerful plant - and it all has them running for their lives, pursued by three extremely unpleasant aunts, who happen to be terrifying ghuls. Set in Victorian England, the story is darkly gothic, full of magic, thrills and chills. It will appeal to boys as much as girls and will, I’m sure, happily rival Darren Shan and J K Rowling!

There is, I have to tell you, very little better than watching a pal succeed, and so, ladies and gentlemen, ghuls, crows and children, it is with pleasure that I introduce you to Jon Mayhew!

Debut children's author, Jon Mayhew (image courtesy of Jon Mayhew)

With all sorts of shivery delight, I have to ask, as the pre-published to the newly published… What does it feel like to become a published author?

A little bewildering, to be honest. But rather good. You spend so much time handling rejection that it seems too good to be true. Once you accept it, it’s ace! I must admit that I have to remind myself that every copy of Mortlock I see does not belong to me!


When did you first conceive Mortlock and where did the idea spring from?

Mortlock came from a number of sources. Alfie Wiggins, the undertaker’s mute came to me when I was watching my son in a performance of Oliver. There is a scene in which Oliver is ‘sold’ to Mr Sowerberry the undertaker and this ‘what if’ idea sprang into my mind. What if an undertaker’s mute found that he could waken the dead? That was my starting point.


How did you learn about the Amaranth and its immortal powers and what made you choose this is as one of the pivotal elements around which the story is based?

The Amarant is mentioned in Paradise Lost which I studied at university many moons ago. I don’t think any reference is made in the poem to its lifegiving properties but a swift Google search established that some people saw the Amarant as an immortal flower! Originally, there was a character in the story, a sort of Lazarus character who could ressurect the dead but he just got in the way, so I turned him into a flower.


Is there any particular reason why Josie Chrimes, your main character, turned up as a girl?

It was strange really, I started writing from Alfie’s point of view and for various reasons, it wasn’t working. I switched viewpoint several times (which was a pain) but finally settled on Josie. In a way, she is the more decisive and action-focused character and so it was easier then to have Alfie as the calming, sometimes cynical voice.


The three aunts in the story are gloriously macabre, to some extent caricatures of every wicked aunt or stepmother that has ever existed. Where did you draw your inspiration from for them?

If I told you I’d have to kill you! In a sense, they are caricatures. They are an amalgam of every bringer of bad news, every bully and every person I’ve known who smiled so sweetly whilst drilling the pointed blade between my shoulder blades. I kind of know who they are. Paradoxically, I love the aunts to bits. I love the way they twitch and flutter in unison and the way they switch from sweetly smothering to ravenous beak and claw.

The wonderfully atmospheric Mortlock booktrailer

Mortlock is gloriously atmospheric, did you find yourself having to do a lot of research into Victorian London?

It just happened as I went along, really. There were key things that I needed to know such as dates and events in the year it was set, just to make sure I wasn’t missing any good possible plot points. I started out with the basic story and then added detail, checked that something was chronologically correct. There were numerous e-mail conversations about sofas, photographs between my agent and then the desk editor and myself. I enjoyed the research and even visited a nice Victorian hearse up in the North east.


The Jon I’ve come to know is a really nice bloke and a very funny one at that, so I have to ask, where did all this gothically dark stuff spring from!?

I suppose it’s all there… lurking in the recesses of my mind. I try to be a very positive person which doesn’t always work. I suppose I work out all the darkness onto the page, perhaps.

Jon clearly has a bit of a thing about graveyards...
(image courtesy of Jon Mayhew)

Mortlock, despite its horror elements is, at its most fundamental, a story of overcoming the odds, good overcoming evil and ultimately it’s a story of great hope. How important do you believe hope is in children’s stories?

Children spend their lives hoping, don’t they? Hoping good things will happen and bad things won’t, hoping boring things will pass quickly and exciting things will come soon. I think a children’s book bereft of all hope might be a bit miserable. I’d like to think that Josie and Alfie came out of the whole experience with each other and a notion that they love and were loved. That’s important for any child I think.


In many ways, Mortlock reads a lot like a traditional fairy tale. What were the key influencers in the creation of this story and your writing per se?

Traditional song influenced the writing in that the themes of death and mortality haunt all the characters. I love the line “I’ll pike out his bonny blue eye,” in the ballad the Twa Corbies. The word ‘pike’ has so many connotations and sounds so aggressive. I tried to match that in some of my writing. A lot of what I write, I tell myself as I run. I scribble it down and then recraft it. Music influences me too. All kinds, film scores set my mind on the right track.

I suppose one of the key influencers was the writing of MR James. I love those old English ghost stories. The telling of stories is fundamental too. As a youngest child, I was the audience for the goriest, most terrifying stories from my brothers and sister.


You landed a three book deal with Bloomsbury, so we know there is more to come – do you want to give us a glimpse of what else you’re working on and are the other books sequels to Mortlock?

The other books are set in the same time and era with some of the same background characters but the main protagonists change. They aren’t sequels. I rather agree with Geraldine McCaughrean when she says she likes a story to wrap up in one book. I’d love to get the ghuls out and play with them again sometime.

The next book is called The Demon Collector and involves a certain Edgy Taylor (have you heard that name before? Check back through Mortlock) as he becomes involved in the Royal Society of Daemonologie. He hunts demons, helps collect them and goes on an epic voyage to the frozen North to find the lost corpse of the arch demon Moloch. Finally, he finds out which is worse, men or demons.

Jon at his book launch, clutching a newly formed ghul...
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

You not only write, but you’re also the father of four, you have a full time job, you run and you play in ceilidh bands. Do you have a clone or a special recipe for packing so much into your life? And do you perhaps have any plans to give up teaching and become a full-time writer?

I don’t watch much television: Dr Who, the news, Being Human and Have I got News For You. I rarely sit around twiddling my thumbs. My job has reduced to four days a week which is meant to help but in reality, I’ll be spending a lot of time promoting Mortlock. I have to admit that my family are very understanding and cover domestic roles for me a lot of the time. I don’t do all of the things all the time either so at the moment, I’m ramping up the running again and easing off the writing for a little bit… A Bloomsbury Time Turner helps too…

I would dearly love to write full time but I’m under no illusions about how hard this is to achieve. You have to sell a lot of books on a regular basis to do this and I have one title out. I do enjoy my day job too so I’m grateful for that but maybe one day…

Jon and his long suffering family...
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

When we spoke a while ago, you suggested I consider blogging as part of the angle to this interview, so I have to ask, to what extent did blogging play a role in the development of Mortlock and how to you see blogging as being important for pre-published and published authors?

Blogging put me in touch with some wonderful people…yourself included. They gave me excellent advice. You put me onto SCBWI and that was one of the things that put me in front of editors and agents at the Winchester conference. There’s nothing like a bit of professional interest in your work to get other editors and agents peering over curiously to see what the fuss is about.

Blogging has also given me useful feedback on work and even one of my first author gigs when Mickmouse booked me earlier this year to run some workshops at their first ‘Word Explosion’ children’s literary festival down in Cornwall.

It’s just such a great community for support and friendship.

Jon and fellow Greenhouse author, Sarwat Chadda, at the launch of Mortlock. Let's not ask what Sarwat is about to do to that crow... (or what the crow's about to do to him!)
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

Your road to publication, as is the case for most writers, is not something that happened overnight. In what way and how did the story change and evolve to what it is now? And how many rewrites did it take to get you to the final print version of Mortlock?

I have actually lost count of the number of rewrites Mortlock had. It started out very long and quite sprawling. I couldn’t write a synopsis for it because there were so many plot strands and points of view. Cornerstones helped to smooth it out and as with the changing of one character into a flower, it was a question of looking closely at each scene and challenging it to justify its own existence! The book changed quite fundamentally once Sarah Davies got hold of it and more characters were killed off, more scenes axed until it was ready to present to the publishing world.


Now that your first book has been published and you’ve learned a whole lot about writing, how many drafts are you into for The Demon Collector? Do you think the writing process gets easier?

Demon Collector is sitting pretty on the editor’s desk and she told me at the launch party that she loves it. Which is good for morale! Demon Collectors was floating about as I wrote Mortlock and went through about three false starts (upto 10,000 words that couldn’t be used) as I floundered around with characters. It was going to be a modern setting but I couldn’t get the tone right and the characters seemed wrong somehow. Once I set it in Mortlock’s world, it started to fall into place but I still struggled with a main character. Finally, I got it all straight in my head, planned it out (I had to present Bloomsbury with a synopsis by last July) and then I would say it just flowed. At one moment of self-doubt, I started hacking and rewriting but then stopped when I realized that the critical voice in my head was not a good one. It’s taken about two rewrites in all. A far cry from Mortlock.

Book 3? Who knows? Well, I do actually. I have a synopsis and a title and have written about 3,000 words…

Jon signs a copy of Mortlock
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

What are the greatest lessons you’ve learned about writing along the way and what advice would you give to aspiring writers?

I try not to give advice as I’m conscious that I have had great good fortune with my writing. I’m also aware of how much talent there is out there. Just keep writing and reading and enjoying it. We all enjoy our writing, yes? If not, then stop right now and do something else instead.

I suppose if I were going to say anything about what I’ve learned it would be this: It isn’t easy, some of it is down to good luck (assuming you have the writing skills in place). Finding someone who loves your work is the best good fortune and you have to do it twice if you want to land an agent and then a publisher. So your story has to be different and the best it can be. It’s nothing new but it’s true.

If you love writing, then do it anyway. Write your best and never, never, never give up.



Many thanks to Jon for agreeing to this interview and here’s wishing loads of success with Mortlock and his writing career!


For more information on Jon Mayhew and Mortlock:

Jon's blog
Jon's website
The official Mortlock website by Bloomsbury
Jon's Facebook Fan Page
A wonderful article in The Guardian about Mortlock
And if you fancy reading an extract from Mortlock, try the Lovereading website

An interview with Keren David, debut author of "When I Was Joe"

Overview:

Being part of the children’s writers’ community on Facebook and belonging to the SCBWI has brought with it a host of benefits, not least being getting to know so many amazing writers – and London author, Keren David is one of them. I had a feeling, long before I read Keren’s debut novel, When I Was Joe, that I was going to enjoy it. What I didn’t expect was the sheer impact the book had on me. I read it pretty much in one sitting and all I can say is, “Wow! Read it”! When I Was Joe is a gripping, vivid and intense thriller told with dramatic pacing. It is a novel which has left me utterly breathless – and more importantly, it’s a novel that has left me thinking long after I closed the book.

14 year old Ty witnesses an incident of knife crime and gives police evidence, doing what he believes is the right thing. As a result, he and his mum are forced into the witness protection programme and are given new identities and Ty becomes Joe. As Joe’s life spirals out of control he attempts to cling to some semblance of normality and his own identity, all while events and his own decisions seem to do nothing more than lead him further down a path of destruction.

In Ty/Joe, Keren David has created a strong and poignant character with a powerful and evocative voice which is full of integrity and credibility. She also shows that she is unafraid to tackle gritty and powerful themes.

Debut YA author, Keren David

An interview with Keren David:


The first thing that struck me when I started reading When I Was Joe was the strength and integrity of Joe’s voice, so I’m intrigued to know, what came first, the character or the idea?

The idea came first. I’d started an evening course in Writing for Children at City University so I was looking around for things to write about. At that point I thought I might write something for 8-12s.

I saw an item on the news one night about a young boy who’d been caught up in a robbery and had to be taken into witness protection and given a new identity. I was struck by the paradox that the witnesses suffered almost a worse punishment than the criminals, and interested in the possibilities that a false identity offered. I realized quite quickly that it fitted a YA book best, because it’s such a good metaphor for adolescence.


Through the power of Joe’s voice, you’ve created a wonderfully rich and credible character and you write with tremendous insight into Joe’s life, his fears, his longings and his hopes. What enabled you to hone in so powerfully on the emotional life of a 14 year old boy?

I thought the boy in my book might welcome the idea of a new identity, and that implied that he hadn’t been very happy in his old life. So I thought about why that might be. A lot of who Ty/Joe is comes from his family background - particularly the absence of his father.

I also thought a lot about teenage boys, their bodies and their emotions, their lives and influences. It was important to me that Ty was a child of his time - he wasn’t going to like 80s music or classic films because it happened to suit me.

Gradually I got to know Ty very well - his voice got easier and easier. I loved spending time with him, he was really entertaining.


When I Was Joe deals not only with issues of identity but also taps into the increasing concern about the rise of gang and knife crime amongst teens in the UK. This is given witness to not only in your book but also in Shank, the recently released movie starring hip-hop star, Ashley “Bashy” Thomas, which predicts the potential future for kids on the streets by 2015. What personally motivated you to deal with these issues? What are your thoughts on the rise of gang-related knife crime and what do you think could and should be done to counter it?

When I started writing, the focus of the book was going to be identity. I picked a stabbing pretty much at random as the crime that Ty would witness, and thought it would remain very much in the background. But I was writing in spring/summer 2008, when there was a spate of horrific knife crimes in London. Every day the papers seemed full of terrible cases of murder, and a great deal about gangs. I learned a great deal from these reports about Ty, his milieu and the crime he’d witnessed. I started responding to politicians and commentators through his eyes.

If I’m out alone I carry my car key in my fist, just in case I need to punch it into the eye of an attacker. This was so much second nature to me that I never thought about it - I’ve been doing it since I was a young reporter 20 years ago, going out to all sorts of potentially dodgy areas. I read about kids carrying knives to protect themselves, and I started examining my own actions and fears. I wasn’t so different from some of the knife-carrying teenagers.

I’m encouraged when I read about initiatives which seek to make kids feel safer on the street and provide help for them to free themselves from gang culture - Strathclyde Police seem to be the leaders.

Although they take a different approach and have a significantly different "flavour", the movie Shank and When I am Joe both show the impact of knife crime and gang violence in the UK

You reveal an acute insight into gang violence, knife crime and the witness protection programme – did you have to do a lot of research to achieve this?

I read a lot, and I talked to a barrister friend who has worked with intimidated witnesses. I was helped by having worked as a news editor on The Independent from 1990-95 – I knew a lot of background about witness protection in particular. I would have liked to have done more research, and talked to the police in particular, but I felt the book was so topical that there was an urgency about getting it finished and - if possible - published.


You’ve packed numerous gritty themes into one novel, aside from gang and knife crime and the witness protection programme, you also look at teen pregnancy, cutting/self-mutilation, religion, abortion, ostracisation, family violence, identity and death threats. Did you plan to deal with so much or did the story just pour out with all these ingredients? And if planned, what motivated you to try and cover so many issues?

Don’t forget disability! I don’t like ‘issue’ books because so often they focus on one person with one ‘issue’. They’re surrounded by ‘normal’ people and their problem is solved by a wise counsellor. I fear books like this could make one feel even more isolated.

In my experience most of us grapple with multiple ‘issues’ and counselling may not be available. Some people cope better than others, and very little is ever completely resolved. I wanted to reflect life as I find it. I didn’t want to dole out messages or glib solutions.

Ty is someone who’s super sensitive about his mum being very young, he’s very affected by perceived slights and criticism. He gradually learns that he’s not the only one with problems.


Apart from simply telling a riveting story, is there anything you’d particularly like your novel to achieve in a greater social context, given your story offers up a strong social commentary of life in certain parts of the UK today? Did you in fact set out to create a social commentary or was this simply how the story unfolded?

I enjoyed reflecting life in the UK as I found it, because I’d recently returned to live in London after nearly nine years in Amsterdam. It’s odd coming back to your home country from a long time abroad, you notice things that otherwise you’d take for granted. So I suppose there was a lot of social observation in the book.

I wanted to make readers think about the questions that arise – about telling the truth, about identity, about criminal justice. I don’t have any easy answers.




You have been a journalist for most of your adult life, to what extent and how do you feel this influences how you write and what you write about?

I left school at 18 and got a job as a messenger girl on a national newspaper, which eventually offered me an apprenticeship as a junior reporter. The Deputy Editor, David Nathan, was in charge of training, and he taught me how to write clear, accurate and punchy English. I owe him a great deal.

As a reporter I learned not to be too precious about my writing - you’re part of a team, not an artiste. As an editor I learned to cut text - probably the most essential skill for a writer.

They say ‘write about what you know’ and I know about news…I know about the media and how it works, how stories get reported and distorted. I know about crime and justice, lawyers and policemen. Being a journalist is a great privilege - you enter so many different worlds, meet hundreds of people in all sorts of situations. It all feeds into my fiction.

I started out as a news reporter, then worked as a news editor. After that I had a job as an editor on the comment page. So this felt like a natural progression – from factual reporting, to commentary to fiction.


When I Was Joe is written in the first person present tense, something I’ve noticed an increasing number of YA authors doing. What prompted you to write in first person present tense and what do you believe this narrative form creates in the story?

Looking back at my notebook, I wrote the very first page of the very first chapter in third person past tense. By the next page it was first person, past tense. By page three I’d settled on first person present tense. It makes everything feel very immediate. In a book about truth-telling, first person present tense feels like you’re getting the unvarnished truth. I found that useful!
In my latest book I’ve switched to first person past tense and I’m struggling with it. I keep on wanted to revert to present tense, but the members of my writing group are urging me not to and it does help to differentiate the narrator from Ty/Joe.


You have a cast of strong secondary characters in When I Was Joe. Who, apart from Joe stands out for you the most and why?

Ty’s mum, Nicki - I felt very sad for her, but I loved writing all the bits where she’s a complete and utter nightmare.

Ashley, Ty’s sometime girlfriend, the sexy control freak - just such fun to write.

Claire, Ty’s friend – she’s very secretive, full of potential. I felt I ‘knew’ her less than any other character. I loved having the chance to find out more about her in Almost True.


What sort of contact do you have, if any, with the kind of kids who inhabit Joe’s world?

My children go to state schools in Hackney and Haringey, north London, and they mix with all sorts of children. I’ve not met any who’ve been so directly affected by crime though. But Joe’s world is my world - what happens to him could happen to any of us.


What sort of response have you had from young people who’ve read When I Was Joe?

I’ve had a great response. I was really thrilled by a 15-year-old boy who reviewed it on Amazon and wrote “I find it hard to believe the writer isn't a teenager themselves, they seem to know exactly what goes on” which was just the biggest compliment possible.


Many writers of young adult and children’s fiction speak about the importance of hope in their writing. Where do you see the hope in When I Was Joe and how important do you believe hope is in children’s fiction?

A story with no hope in it at all would be so bleak as to be almost unbearable. Having said that, I don’t sit and think about injecting hope into a story, or contriving a happy ending. In When I Was Joe I think the hope comes from friendship, and Ty’s growing understanding of the importance of integrity.



The sequel to When I Was Joe is Almost True, due for release in August 2010. Will it be the last we see of Joe, or will there be more?

There’s no more planned at the moment, although the ending of Almost True would make it possible to return to the story - maybe with a different narrator.


Who or what do you feel most influences your writing?

Who: I’ve got a great writing group, which came out of the courses I did at City University. They’re fantastic at giving feedback and support. My daughter is 13 and she reads everything I write. My agent Jenny Savill is a great person to talk to about anything to do with the work in progress and I’ve been incredibly lucky in the talented editors I’ve worked with at Frances Lincoln, especially Maurice Lyon, the editorial director, who has an almost magical ability to plant ideas in my head without it ever being clear (to me) how they got there.

What: the world around me. My children. The things people say. Newspapers, television, the internet. The past and the present.

Keren and her daughter

What was your journey to publication like and what advice would you give unpublished writers?

Now that I know more about the publishing business I can see that I did everything wrong. I started querying agents as soon as I’d finished the first draft - I didn’t even have a title. I got a few rejections and then I was lucky enough to get some good advice from one agent and I rewrote the beginning of the book to make it more dramatic. That did the trick and three agents wanted to represent me.

Submitting the book to publishers was difficult - the recession was upon us and a lot of editors said positive things but couldn’t make an offer. I was very happy when Frances Lincoln made an offer for two books, as I’d written about a third of Almost True by that point and I was very fond of it.

I’d advise unpublished writers to join SCWBI and read Nicola Morgan’s excellent blog. Develop internal and external armour and refuse to take rejection personally. Cut and polish your work. And make sure your first chapter grabs the reader’s attention.


And finally, where to from here for Keren David?

I’m working on a new book, with a female narrator and I hope to be able to tell people more about it quite soon. I love writing fiction, especially YA, and I hope there will be more to come.


Many thanks to Keren for agreeing to this interview and here’s wishing her huge success with her writing and with Joe – she certainly deserves it!

Thanks Nicky!


For more about Keren, news about her books, take a look at her blog

An interview with YA author, Gillian Philip

Sometimes in life you just get lucky. I feel that way about having made friends on Facebook with Scottish author Gillian Philip. When I friended her (or she friended me – I forget which way round it was), I didn’t know anything about her, let alone what she’d written. But as is the way of these things, you get to know someone a little and you decide to read their books. Reading Gillian Philip's books has been a total treat for me. The strength of her voice and the honesty with which she deals with some tough subject matter makes me rate her up right up there with my favourite teen and Young Adult authors – who include Kevin Brooks and Meg Rosoff.

Basking in the Scottish sushine, Gillian claims not to miss the tropics.
Hmmm...
Photograph courtesy of Helen Giles

I’ve so enjoyed Gillian’s work that I’ve asked her to share some of her thoughts about her writing, and what she’s working on, here.

Let’s first talk about writing in general.

So here’s the old stock in phrase question, Gillian… What motivates you to write?

My overdraft! Just kidding… well, half-kidding… that’s what gets me to my desk in the morning, because I have to treat it like a regular job (what my mother would call a ‘proper’ job). But what really, seriously motivates me? Those characters banging on the inside of my skull demanding I tell their story. Isn’t that what motivates us all?

And that other classic question… Where do you get your ideas from?

For this one I used to quote a facetious Russell T Davies – ‘The Ideas Shop in Abergavenny.’ But no, I’m trying to take the question more seriously these days, because it’s a perfectly reasonable one!

The very worst moments are when I really have no idea what to write about, and those do happen. I’ll sit at my desk banging my head against a hot cup of coffee, but I know what I should do: either go for a long walk, or turn on the news.

I worked out the basic story for Crossing The Line when I was walking round Aberdeen, thinking of characters who would appear in it and the things they might get up to in certain locations. Some of them were the wrong characters: Allie started out as a little brother, before becoming a little sister in a blinding revelation. Some of them came out right the first time: Lola Nan sprang from my head fully formed in the middle of Springfield Road. Which was quite a sight.

My other favourite hunting ground is the news: headline stories, magazine articles, even opinion columns in the Sunday papers. It’s not the frontline stories I’m looking for, but the people in the background: the kid in the rubble looking for his football; the favourite niece of that adulterous footballer or politician; that murderer’s little brother, the one with the shocked face, who used to worship him. Once you readjust your focus and tune into the background noise, stories really are limitless. Well, the ideas are limitless. Turning them into stories is of course the hard part…

My starter collection of Gillian Philip's books - I'm expecting the pile to grow...

And then there’s that other one… How long, on average, does it take for you to write a book?

Ooh, tricky one. I’d estimate a first draft at between two and three months, but that really would be a rough first draft. It’s the rewriting and polishing that take the time, but that’s the part I enjoy the most. With edits and rewrites, I’m very nitpicky and I can never resist changing just one more word, one more scene. But getting it on a blank page to start with, that’s blood from a stone.

When did you start writing and was it a long slog to getting published – what was the journey to becoming a published author like?

It was a long slog, yes, but nothing I didn’t expect. I’d always wanted to write, but in a defeatist way I thought getting published would be impossible. So when I lived abroad for twelve years – I was jobless and childless and I had so much time I really should have been turning out two fat sagas a year or something – I wrote and sold short stories. I didn’t really enjoy them – I don’t think I’m that good at short stories – but I assumed I’d never sell anything longer, and I couldn’t think what to write anyway.

In 2001 I had my twins and came home to Scotland; at around the same time I discovered YA books (I bought them on the pretence of building a library for my kids’ future, but read them all myself). YA was in this golden age, and I found it was what I really wanted to write. I also discovered manuscript advice services like Hilary Johnson’s, and I can’t recommend them highly enough.

Then I had a few very frustrating years. I started with the attitude that I would give it my best shot, so that I wouldn’t be able to berate myself later in life for not trying. But of course, it doesn’t work like that, and the books I was writing became my complete obsession.
My worst moment came when my (eventual) agent, who had been agonising over a fantasy called Rebel Angels, eventually turned it down. I thought I’d blown my best chance. But she did then accept the novel that became Crossing The Line, and sold it to Bloomsbury; and in the meantime I’d sold Bad Faith to Strident, a small Scottish publisher – so I had two books published within a year. I’d say the whole process was no more difficult and frustrating than I expected, but it certainly needed doggedness, as well as a big dollop of brass neck. Writers do need a brass neck and a thick skin, so it was just as well I developed both!"

Waiting in the freezing Scottish mist for her son to take her photograph, Gillian's on the verge of changing her mind and going inside for something warming...

What would you say most motivates and informs your writing?

Probably when I get mad about something. I suspect I have a useful streak of misanthropy, but humans fascinate me, too – the things we do to each other in the name of politics or religion, love or revenge, envy, national pride, the movies of Richard Curtis… anything. I’m dreadful to my characters – that’s a writer’s job – but most of the time they will get through it all, because I love ’em, and I want them to win the day. Mostly…

How much contact do you have with your readers – and do you think contact with your readers is important?

I’d like to have more! I love meeting and talking to readers and yes, I think it’s hugely important. I almost can’t believe there are writers who wouldn’t want to talk about their books – even to readers who disliked them, if only so that you can argue the toss and try to convert them. I thoroughly enjoy school visits, love doing talks and workshops, could do Q&As for hours on end. JD Salinger I’m not.

Gillian with some of her readers
Image courtesy of Gillian's website

Now, let’s get into the actual books…

Like Kevin Brooks and Melvin Burgess, you’re not afraid to tackle really gritty subject matter, which involves protagonists who are in their mid teens. Cass, in Bad Faith is 15 and Allie (although not the main protagonist), in Crossing the Line, is the same sort of age. What motivated you to write these books - and for this age group?

It’s such a terrific age, a difficult, frightening, exciting age. It’s right in the heart of the teen years and secondary school, and you’re dealing with all those hormones, all that fear for the future; all that heartbreak, and optimism, and bravery…

I do like gritty subject matter, but I’m not trying to send messages or teach lessons. I want to tell gripping stories, make the reader care about the characters the way I do. And as I said, that usually means throwing the most awful stuff at the poor beggars.




Crossing the Line, which has been nominated for and won several awards, deals with, amongst other things, knife crime and has been banned in certain schools. What is your response to that? And why do you think it might be important for teens to read this sort of novel?

Yes, I was bewildered when I heard that (and pretty cross, obviously). Of course schools are entitled to stock whatever books they like, but the attitude was based on such a misreading of the book (or perhaps no reading at all). I was told (via a third party) that the ban was down to Crossing The Line ‘glamourising knife crime’… which simply isn’t true. The book does investigate how blades and violence hold an element of glamour for some young men, which is something I think we can’t ignore.

But I wasn’t out to send a message about anything – that’s what email’s for. I treated the theme responsibly, but essentially the novel was about my characters and their actions and decisions, and how they deal with some terrible events. I hope I never get so tangled up in issues that I forget the story. I don’t think it’s important for teens to read any particular sort of novel – I just think it’s important that they should read. Otherwise they’re missing out on so much!




Bad Faith deals with religion gone out of control. Your father was in the church so how did your own religious experiences inform the writing of Bad Faith and what is it you really wanted to get across in the book?

My father was a very liberal priest in the liberal and tolerant Scottish Episcopal Church, and that’s how I was brought up. I’m lapsed now, but I still have a great fondness for the Anglican church and I’ve been shocked by some of the attitudes it has allowed to stand in the name of unity. So together with the direction religions all over the world have been taking, it got me thinking about the desirability or otherwise of closer religious ties and church unity. Politics and religion do fascinate me, especially in conjunction, and for the background to this novel I wanted to write a world where the greatest world divisions were between secular states and theocracies.

But that’s the background! Mostly I wanted to write a heinous murder, with plenty of scandal, family secrets, blackmail, mystery and romance thrown in. I wanted to find out if my protagonists Cass and Ming could get together in the end without getting themselves killed!



You also write to commission and the Darke Academy series which is a fantasy/paranormal is quite different from some of your other work and is also written under a nom de plume, Gabriella Poole. How do you find writing to commission and what motivates you to do it? And, why the nom de plume?

The nom de plume Gabriella Poole actually belongs to the book packager Hothouse, who devised the Darke Academy series. This protects both the company and me, because if either of us want to bring the partnership to an end, Gabriella can continue to exist! It’s an increasingly popular phenomenon in publishing.

Hmm, what motivated me? Curiosity; the fact that they liked my sample chapter enough to offer me the job; the fact that I really liked the concept and the characters they came up with; a reliable pay day! I hugely enjoy working with the Hothouse team – it is of course completely different to working on my own novels with my own characters, but it’s collaborative and fun and lets me stretch my writing muscles.




In both Bad Faith and Crossing the Line you write with a remarkably powerful, connected and authentic voice, how do you feel then, about writing material that doesn’t come from the heart in the same way?

I couldn’t have taken on the Darke Academy contract if I didn’t like and engage with the characters. It’s true that they didn’t come from my brain, but I’m very, very fond of them (I confess to a deep affection for the sleazy Richard Halton-Jones).

When I got the brief, the outline and the concept attracted me straight away. I loved the idea that the school moved to a different exotic city every term, and I liked the uniqueness of the idea – these people weren’t vampires, but possessed by ancient spirits, and I wanted to find out where they came from (and I should add that we started work on the Darke Academy series before Twilight even appeared!)

It is a very different way of working: very much a team effort. My first draft – expanded from the editors’ outline – will always be altered, but then if I have some objection or quibble or a sudden idea, I know I can put it to the editors and that it will be considered very seriously, and more often than not worked in. It’s a bit like how I imagine it would be working for a US sitcom, or a British soap – the characters didn’t come from my head, but working together we can make them the best they can be, and keep them consistent and the story cohesive. It’s been tremendous fun working with Cassie, Ranjit and co. It’s not the same as my own work but I love it.

The Shades series

What sort of relationship do you have with your characters and do you find they really get into your head and stick there? Who, do you feel, has been your strongest character to date and why?

You know that song Can’t get you out of my head? Like that, but even more irritating.

But seriously… that moment when a new character takes up residence in a space in your brain, makes themselves at home and demands a drink and a bowl of olives: that’s one of the most fabulous moments in writing. But you know this, Nicky – I’ve heard you talk about your own characters!

Strongest characters… well, I hope my main character in each novel is the strongest. That’s what I’m aiming for of course, and if they weren’t, I’m sure someone else would have taken over the plot. I’m not sure which characters other readers would find powerful – objectively speaking I think Orla and Shuggie in Crossing The Line are strong characters in their own right…

As for my most tenacious character, the one who won’t leave me alone: that would have to be Seth in my upcoming Firebrand. The little sod. He started out as a villain, took over the story without so much as a by-your-leave, and I haven’t been able to get rid of him since. When I started writing Bad Faith – which came after the Sithe books in writing order – I thought I was going to need an exorcist.

You have another new series coming out this year with Strident Books. Can you tell us a bit about that?

That would be the Rebel Angels series, starring the aforementioned little sod. Firebrand is the first book; it’s set in Scotland at the end of the sixteenth century and tells the story of Seth MacGregor, who’s the son of a Sithe nobleman, at the time of civil war and rebellion in the Sithe world. The next three books in the series move right up to the 21st century and bring the characters into the modern world (they live a long time, those Sithe). The story has evil queens, treason, assassination, telepathy, witch trials, burnings, kelpies, monsters, car chases, junkies, betrayal and cat burglary. And romance, of course. (Can never resist that last one.)

What else do you have planned?

Right now I’m working on a second book for Bloomsbury, provisionally titled The Opposite of Amber. It’s another contemporary novel, like Crossing The Line, this time with a girl called Ruby as the main character. It’s another murder mystery, and there’s a serial killer involved…

And finally, a number of aspiring authors read this blog, what advice do you have for new and aspiring authors?

Just – do persevere! Persevere, and take advice from objective sources. I know how disheartening it can be, but the important thing is to keep writing. As soon as you send something off to an agent or a publisher – and before you hear back from them – start the next book. The more you write the better you get, and if you have the talent and you don’t give up, you’ll get there. Keep writing, and take note of constructive criticism and advice. And GOOD LUCK, aspiring authors!

Gillian Philip and furry friend
Photograph courtesy of Gillian's Facebook Fan Page

Many thanks to Gillian for agreeing to do this interview.

And can I just say – thank so much, Nicky, for inviting me! I feel equally lucky to have met up with you!


Do visit Gillian Philip at her website or her Facebook Fan Page and consider following her on Twitter: @Gillian_Philip

Gillian's books can be found on Amazon and a several other online bookstores.

Gillian Philip's bio can also be found on Hilary Johnson's website.

If you'd like to ask Gillian a question, do so in the comments section and she'll get back to you.

DEVIL’S KISS by Sarwat Chadda

A brief review and interview with debut author, Sarwat Chadda.

(All images in this post, courtesy of Sarwat Chadda.)

DEVIL'S KISS

Due for release in May 2009 is Sarwat Chadda’s debut novel for teens, Devil’s Kiss. The story is described as a dark, supernatural thriller in which 15 year old Billi Sangreal is thrust into the modern-day Knights Templar by her father, the Grandmaster. Billi is the first girl to be a Templar knight – and she’s not that keen on the idea. After all, her life is nothing but a rigourous round of weapons training, occult law and demon killing. When temptation is placed in her path, Billi is offered a choice – leave the Templar life and the isolation it brings or have a real life. But temptation, as it always does, brings consequences – in this case the tenth plague – the death of all first borns. And so Billi must choose her destiny.




I “met” Sarwat Chadda online via the SCBWI-BI writers’ list and subsequently through Facebook and the blogosphere. He was kind enough to send me a proof copy of Devil’s Kiss and I thought I’d share a little about it with you and also an interview with Sarwat.

A BRIEF REVIEW

Devil’s Kiss has a killer opening, which grabs your attention and keeps you reading right to the end. It is a gripping tale, albeit dark in places and it has a tough and feisty protagonist in Billi Sangreal. The story is loaded with action – making it likely to appeal to teens of both sexes – while unexpected twists and turns help the story to move at a terrific pace. Although the story is set in modern-day London, Sarwat has nevertheless created a dark and lonely world for his young protagonist and the reader feels her frustration and isolation keenly. Scenes are vividly painted and the writing stays tight throughout. There is also plenty to provoke thought and debate, bringing together as Sarwat does, the three Judeo-Christian religions as a combined force against evil, while also challenging some traditionally held views. The story leaves one feeling haunted and wondering what Billi will have to face next. Good thing then that the sequel, The Dark Goddess, is due for release in 2010.

AN INTERVIEW WITH SARWAT CHADDA

Sarwat as brave knight templar...
(the things us writers do...)

Every blurb and interview I’ve read observes that you are a Muslim married to a vicar’s daughter. This has clearly influenced the role religion plays in the story. What was your specific intent in creating such a strong underlying religious theme?

You know what they say - write what you know and what interests you. Religion and the East-West cultural issues are what interest me. Given the current media interest in Islam and the perceived ‘cultural differences’ I felt it important to raise my background and make it clear it’s not that big a deal.

My background keeps coming up given the domination of white-middle class writers in the industry. Perhaps my ‘outsider’ view adds a new perspective.


You’ve been asked this before, but I’ll ask again. Billi SanGreal is a girl – why did you choose to create a female protagonist? Several questions come to mind in considering this: one, you may have given yourself a larger readership with a male protagonist and two, surely it would have been easier for you to write a male protagonist?

I have daughters, hence a girl hero.

Plus there’s nothing new I could add to by creating another male protagonist. There’s a lack of true reflection on the nature of what they do since it’s ‘expected’ of boys to be warriors, at least in literature. By having a female warrior it gave me the opportunity to question this, since Billi doesn’t have the same expectations of ‘what she should be’.

The contrast between Billi and her father, Arthur, was all the stronger by her being a daughter following in her father’s footsteps.

Having two daughters and a female agent and female editors helped me keep the focus on Billi as a ‘real’ girl.


The relationship between Billi and her father is pivotal to the story – you have some of the typical teenage vs parent tension, but also considerably more. What made you focus so strongly on this relationship – and in the way you have?

The usual cliché is about how the son trains to become like his father, so I thought having a daughter would present a new twist. We are in the 21st Century after all. Also there's a natural rivalry between generations, and the father's pride and melancholy at seeing your child grow and surpass you. Lots of children's fiction removes the parents (usually by death) and that would have been a boring solution to thrusting Billi into the action. I wanted her to have a dad that went against a parent's natural instinct to protect their child from harm. Instead Arthur pushes her into danger, and we hate him, not realising the choices and the sacrifices he's made that have forced him to this decision.

But from my own perspective, both as a child looking up to one's parents and as a father with daughters, there's a transition that occurs in your early teens. When you're young you think your parents are the answer to everything. It's as your own character and individuality begins to really assert itself with the natural urge to rebel do you see your parents as fallible humans. That's why writing about a character at that threshold age is so great. There's the tug between childish awe and adult criticism, all driven by the desire to separate and mature.


Your villain in Devil’s Kiss is an Archangel who brings the tenth plague, the death of all first borns, upon the world. Making a typically accepted "good" angel into the "bad guy” is a dramatic deviation from the standard view, particularly given the menacing, ruthless and selfish nature of the character. Can you explain this? And how do you anticipate the response from religious groups to what you've done?

The Archangel thinks he’s the good guy. It’s the dangers of self-righteousness that I’m raising through him. It’s clear to us (as readers) he’s motivated by pure selfishness and also that’s he’s fallen off the straight and narrow. He’s biblical attributes are primarily of war, and no-one can remain unblemished by war.

The key issue here is who decides what is just and good? The tenth plague involved killing all firstborn Egyptians. Where they all responsible for the enslavement of the Israelites? Did they deserve their fate? Or were they ‘collateral damage’ just so the pharaoh would get the message?

And shouldn’t we be wary of our heroes? History is written by the winners, and so we view characters like Alexander, Richard the Lionheart and Henry V through the distorted lenses of victory. I think my background has made me question the simplistic attitude towards ‘heroism’ as defined by war. All of the above were great slaughterers of men and empires are built from blood and bones.

I love the Iliad. It’s the standard for epic tales. But read it and dwell on the suffering and misery the heroes bring. Achilles, the hero, is a psychopath. He only seeks self-gratification and is all towering ego, willing to let his fellows be destroyed because of his sheer vanity. Hector on the other hand is loyal, devoted and dedicated to his people. He is a warrior because he has to be, and suffers very human self-doubts and fears because of it. Hector portrays ‘heroic’ qualities, Achilles does not.

I bring this up more in The Dark Goddess. Billi does some awful things and has to reconcile them within herself.

There are a lot of stories out there with angels, devils, demons and the like, religious groups haven’t particularly targeted them. The criticism of Harry Potter and Pullman (for example) has more to do with the level of their success being newsworthy, than necessarily their content. Usually the criticism comes from those who haven’t read their books. I suspect I’ll remain happily below their radar!


On the flip side, Satan turns out to be quite a likable, helpful, even sexy guy – albeit he is the Devil. Again, could you explain your treatment of him?

The Devil is a tempter, so he has to have appealing attributes. But it’s all a con. Look at what he asks the characters to do in exchange for his aid. He is not deluding himself about what he does, and his honesty is striking when compared the Archangel, who is deluded.

It’s all about the road to damnation being paved with good intentions. He doesn’t lie, he doesn’t need to. Humans choose between good and evil, the Devil doesn’t make them.

But no-one comes out well from dealing with the Devil.


The story is strongly action oriented – did you set out to write an action thriller? How did the story evolve for you?

I love reading action stories. Clive Cussler and Bernard Cornwell are probably the two guys I read most. The Sharpe novels have been a major influence on Billi. That and the Conan novels. I loved those back when I was a boy!


I’ve read the original opening of The Devil’s Kiss on your website, plus a later revision and then, of course, the final version. You’ve clearly done a huge amount work bringing the book to its current level. Can you tell us a little about your process of rewrites and the journey to publication? And in what way has your agent, Sarah Davis of Greenhouse Literary, assisted you and helped shape the final product.

The three stages of Chapter One are a useful compare and contrast. The first version was passive, Telling not Showing. All the usual beginner’s errors. The second version, still with the werewolf, was better, active and won me an agent through the Undiscovered Voices competition. BUT it was out of context and didn’t reflect the theme of the book. It worked, but only in isolation.

Hence the final chapter 1. What Sarah pointed out was now Chapter 1 was fixed, the rest of the book needed fixing along the same lines. Major rewrite!


It’s been much publicised that you’re a debut author who landed a “major six figure deal” – has life changed so far and how does it feel to be on the way to “making it” as a successful author?

Making it will only be decided five, ten years from now, if I’m still writing. So all the usual anxieties are still in place. I’ve been given a fantastic start and being able to give up the day job has been a god-send. Life has changed amazingly. I get to work from home, see my kids more and get paid to make things up! It really doesn’t suck.

This may sound bizarre but the money aspect is kind of secondary. Thinking on it only distracts from the job in hand, which is writing something people will get sucked into and love. The only way a stranger will love your work is if you love it too. That’s why cynical ‘writing by numbers’ will never work. There are writers who are safe within their comfort zones and churn the same book out year after year. You love them because they’re familiar, but the passion has gone. I’m still at the stage where it’s exciting, it’s an adventure and I still feel I’m doing it by the seat of my pants. That semi-panic keeps the edge to the story. It’s frightening but exhilarating.


The Knights Templar are proving to be a popular theme at the moment; Tormud, The Templar’s Apprentice, the first book in a series by Kat Black, was published in February. Have you had a chance to read it and (odious as comparisons are) how did you feel it compares to what you have done?

I was half-way through an early draft of DK when I came across the Da Vinci Code. I thought that the Templar thing would have come and gone before I hit the shelves. But it kept on going. I was worried about the glut of Templar books, to be honest.

I’ve tried hard to avoid reading other Templar books there’s just too many of them to keep track of what’s out there! So alas, haven’t read Tormud.

Now of course any supernatural tale is being compared with Stephenie Meyer, just proving there’s nothing new under the sun.


The sequel to The Devil’s Kiss, The Dark Goddess is due for publication next year. Can you tell us a little about it?

I’ve wanted to write a dark fairy tale story for years. I love Russian myths, especially Baba Yaga, the ancient witch, who is an especially powerful female myth figure. ‘Women who run with wolves’ by Clarissa Pinkola Estes and the works of Angela Carter have both heavily influenced the theme and tone of Book 2. So we move Billi out of London and drop her in wintery Russia.

The emphasis is to balance out the ‘male’ influence in Book 1 -- Billi’s companions are exclusively male -- and put her into a powerful female environment. In addition I wanted a protagonist who is very right in her ambitions, and the internal conflict Billi has is the realization she’s on the wrong side, but cannot change that. There’s a theme here that while I write about monsters in the shapes of werewolves, vampires or whatever, Billi discovers her own capacity for monstrosity, she is forced to look at her own ‘humanity’ and doesn’t like what she sees.

Baba Yaga represents the inhuman, not saying she’s evil, but her agenda does not support the idea that the Earth and its resources are there solely for humanity’s benefit. She stands for those who have not prospered with humanity’s domination over nature, i.e everyone and everything else!


Do you anticipate that there will be more adventures for Billi after the Dark Goddess?

That would be great, since I’m very attached to Billi’s world, but I’ve a number of non-Billi stories I’d like a go at first.


You’ve started work on a new series – are you ready to talk a little about what you’re doing?

Oh, nope. There’s not enough in it yet worth talking about! Plus I might still change my mind.

BUY IT!

Devil’s Kiss is available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com. It will be in stores in the UK on 7th May 2009 and will be released in US stores in September 2009.

Now here’s hoping, that like the cunning devil, we’ve given you enough to tempt you into rushing off to order your copy of Devil’s Kiss right now! Well, what are you waiting for?! You’ll enjoy it, I did!