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1 Paul, what gave you the idea of writing about rhesus macaques and did you know before you began The Mighty Skink that Skink was going to be a monkey who had been up into space? I got the idea after driving through a safari park with my wife. A gang of tough little rhesus macaques leapt onto our cherished first car and started ripping the vinyl roof to pieces. I later spent a day at the same park, where the keeper pointed out to me the leader of the colony, McVicar, and his burly henchman Saddam! Those monkeys looked awfully familiar to me. In the first draft Skink had been in some kind of research facility -- a rather more common fate for rhesus monkeys but one that struck me, on reflection, as just too grim. The more I read about animal experimentation, the more the space programme seemed perfect. Lots of kids may know that the first animal in space was a dog called Laika, but perhaps not so many know that she was left in orbit until she died of starvation. At the risk of sounding high-falutin' here, I was struck by the fact that humanity's first steps into space -- the achievement that literally put us beyond the limits of our own planet and our co-inhabitants on it -- should have involved the use of test animals. This seemed to me an appropriate symbol of the darker side of our relationship with animals. 2 The book is in many ways a monkeys'-eye view of human life. Did you write it to be entertaining or is it a book with a message? Entertaining! I can't say I was unaware of what message might be read into the story, but I wouldn?t want to make any message the whole point of a novel. I see the book as being a rites-of-passage story as much as it is any kind of commentary on either human or animal life -- but none of these were foremost in my mind: I just wanted to tell the story. In fact, originally I did imagine the tale as being rather more lighthearted than it turned out. That wasn't because I wanted to weigh it down with a message about animal rights or anything else. It was more a case, I think, of having just moved to America when I wrote the book. I was feeling homesick and isolated and anxious about getting a job . . . and all those feelings just flowed into what I was writing! Still, I hope there are a few laughs in there as well. 3 The other monkeys, particularly Giz the narrator, are almost relieved to return to the Enclosure. Adults might be inclined to read the conclusion to the novel as indicating that you feel most people enjoy leading their lives within distinct boundaries; that adventure and daring-do is for the heroic few (the Skinks of this world). What mood do you anticipate your younger audience will be in as they turn the last page? I hope that readers won't draw quite such clear-cut conclusions about my beliefs from any book! I suppose the ending is a bit on the sombre side, but I can't see how it could have been otherwise. And it IS a victory of sorts for the narrator. He is a stronger character -- more responsible, more mature, and more accepting of his lot. I?m not sure I think most people enjoy living within distinct boundaries, but I suppose they are better off the happier they feel about boundaries that they can't change anyway. My sympathies at the end are reserved for Skink, who cuts a rather sad figure, for all his heroism. 4 Both your full-length novels first appeared in the mid-priced deluxe paperback format favoured by Oxford University Press for its children's books. What is your view of this format, which clearly seeks to have the kudos of a hardback, whilst retaining the low-priced advantage of a paperback? I've been very pleased with the way my books have looked both in this format and as mass market paperbacks, but this is more to do with cover artwork than format. The thing I've always liked about hardbacks is their relative sturdiness rather than any kudos attached to them, but, then again, these deluxe paperbacks seem pretty robust too. 5 At what point in your work as a publishing editor did you decide to write books yourself, and do you feel your insider knowledge of the publishing business is a help or hindrance to the creative process? I had my first two books (fiction for students studying English as a foreign language) published when I was a language teacher. Then I sort of drifted into educational publishing. I was an editor at Ginn, where my job mostly involved working on spelling, grammar and phonics materials. I did edit a little fiction for the primary school market as well -- enough to make me interested in having a go myself. That's when I wrote BUG MULDOON, and that's pretty much as far as any insider knowledge of publishing went. I sent the book out as an unsolicited manuscript, and it was picked up from the slush pile. My 'day job' now is even further removed from the world of children's fiction. I'm an editor for an American educational publisher (McDougal Littell, based in Chicago), working on the grammar and vocabulary component of an immense textbook programme for US high schools. So I AM an editor, but for all the overlap this has with my fiction writing, I may as well be selling double-glazing. In fact, wading through grammar materials every day makes me somewhat self-conscious about all the rules I'm trampling on (or should that be "on which I'm trampling"?)! 6 Writers are always complaining that editors want work done 'by tomorrow', but seem slow to respond to authors' submissions and queries. Can you give us the editor's defence? As above. I'm in such a different side of publishing that I couldn't really say. As an editor I don?t work directly with anyone outside my company. 7 Bug Muldoon reads as if it was a joy to write? Was it, and are you as enamoured with the Raymond Chandler school of crime fiction as the book suggests? It really was a joy to write. One of the reviews said that the book didn't set out to achieve anything -- no deep message, no lofty purpose -- other than to entertain the reader. I was oddly chuffed when I read that, because it really matched how I felt writing the book. I do like hard boiled detective fiction, though more as an occasional read -- an exclusive diet of that sort of thing is a bit too samey for me. But when it's good, I think it's really good! 8 At the end of the book Bug decides to stay in the Garden--"through these mean flower beds a bug must walk who is not himself mean". Does this mean a possible new adventure for Bug Muldoon? Yes! When I first wrote the book, I was pretty eager to do another one. It was a matter first of waiting to see if anyone else wanted another, and then of finding the time to get one done. At long last both conditions have been met and I've started plotting the next Bug story. 9 You have written a number of short chapter books, including recent ones for the Treetops series of books which provide supplementary material for the Oxford Reading Tree. Can you describe the process of writing short books that slot into a series which other authors contribute to? And how does the collaboration with the illustrators work? Because of the limited amount of time I have to write, I really enjoy doing these shorter books -- they don?t feel like such a stamina test. I've written 10 books for OUP?s Treetops series, and I?ve never had much of a sense that I was fitting in to a series with other authors. I keep meaning to get my hands on some of them. I don't have any direct dealings with the illustrators. When I write a manuscript, I know that it will be highly illustrated. This means, for example, I can assume that a certain amount of direct speech will be speech bubbles. Occasionally, if I think there is some essential information that must be conveyed in an illustration, I'll jot an art brief. But mostly this task is in the hands of the series editor, who does a great job of laying out the pages and briefing the illustrator. I get the chance to comment on each stage -- so long as my fax machine can stand the strain, that is -- and so we end up with something we're all happy with. 10 Is it your ambition to give up editing and write full time? Currently, how do you arrange your time to make room for writing? Until recently I worked full-time in my editorial job -- all my writing was crammed into whatever time was left over in the evenings after my kids were in bed, plus the odd frenzied hour here or there at the weekend. Not the best way to get much written. I've just gone down to four days a week in the office, so nowadays I have one clear day in the week to write. I'm happy to see how this goes. 11 Having moved to America, how would you sum up the main difference between the children's books scene in the States and in the UK? It's awful to admit, but I honestly don?t know enough about either scene to be able to say. 12 What difference, if any, do you see the Internet making to children's books? I like the Internet -- it's wonderful for research (some kinds, at any rate). I enjoy skipping from site to site, and e-mail is a great way to stay in touch with people. But the doom merchant inside me can't help feeling a little unnerved about what the Internet might mean for children's books: will it prove to be just one more high-tech distraction that reduces attention spans and keeps kids away from books? I know that this need not be the case, but, from my own experience, I tend not to stick around in any site to read much before clicking away on the next link. 13 In the back of the Treetops titles you list your childhood ambitions as wanting to be an astronaut, a footballer or a rock star? Were any of these serious aspirations? Yes, and half a dozen others too! Admittedly, I never did much to achieve any of them. My rock star aspirations didn't go beyond holding a tennis racket guitar and practising my Pete Towshend windmills in the mirror. But, at one time or another, these were all sincere ambitions. What I never really thought of being was a writer, much less an editor. 14 Are you working on a longer novel at the moment, or do you already have one finished and ready for publication? I've just finished a first draft of a longer novel. I'm putting that on the back burner for a bit now, while I plan the next Bug Muldoon story. 15 Now that you are living in America are you seeking to build your profile there, or do you still consider yourself primarily a UK writer? A UK author -- just one who happens to live in America. Admittedly, I'd love to be able to walk into a bookshop where I live and actually see one of my books. If a US publisher were to pick up any of my titles, that would, of course, be very nice indeed. But, to a great extent, this is out of my hands. I have no plans to start from cold and try contacting publishers or agents over here. 16 How important do you think book reviews are, and what's your opinion of children's books reviewing? Very important to me -- I don't have much chance to browse in bookshops, so I pretty much rely on reviews for choosing my current reading. I do wish that more space were devoted in the mainstream media to reviews of children's books. 17 Which author's books have you most enjoyed reading to your own children? My eldest daughter just turned four. Books go in an out of favour on a weekly basis, but favourites at the moment are by Jez Alborough, Babette Cole, Tony Ross, David McPhail, Korky Paul and Valerie Thomas. My younger daughter is a year and a half. She prefers anything with Barney or the Teletubbies! I'm less keen on the former than the latter.
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