Animator and author Peter Bunzl’s series ‘The Cogheart Adventures’ was inspired by his fascination with automatons, explains Sian Kissock. (more…)
News
The adventures of Professor Astro Cat have been a beloved series since the release of the first book in 2013, as indicated by the sheer number of kids at the workshop led by the books’ illustrator Ben Newman. But Ben’s journey has taken dedication and hard work, says Nohely Gedeon. (more…)
Kids and parents alike were engrossed during Nicholas Allan’s magical talk on The Queen’s Knickers, says Sian Kissock.
Author of over 30 children’s books, Nicholas talked about magical illusion and his charming new book, all about the Queen’s best kept secret – what underwear she wears on particular occasions. (more…)
Francesca Simon, the author of the incredibly successful Horrid Henry series, talked about the Norse mythology that inspired her first piece of young adult fiction, The Monstrous Child. Arno Bryant reports. (more…)
“Childhood? It lasts a lifetime.” Baroness Floella Benjamin certainly knows a thing or two about how childhood shapes us into who we are today, says Bethany Park.
Families at this year’s festival were treated to an inspirational and moving talk by the 68-year-old baroness about finding consideration, contentment and confidence – no matter how young you are. (more…)
Lucy Worsley has many strings to her bow – TV historian, chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces and author – and she’s mixed them all by delving into the life of a young Queen Victoria, explains Sian Kissock.
Lucy engaged the enthusiastic audience through witty facts and mystery. Did you know being a historian involves reading memoirs which often have pages evidently torn out, or the words ‘burn this’ scrawled on them? (more…)
World-renowned scientist and award-winning author, Robert Winston, gave a lecture on wonders of the human body to a sold-out audience at Barnes Methodist Church ahead of the release of his latest children’s science book, My Amazing Body Machine.
After the talk Professor Winston took some tough questions from children in the audience. (more…)
“I spent Monday and Tuesday climbing volcanos with gorillas and it’s taking me a while to get used to being back here,” Lauren St John warned her audience before starting her talk. Arno Bryant reports. (more…)
Clare Balding gave an immensely positive and amusing talk to the crowd on Saturday in the Book Marquee, reports Sian Kissock.
She started by introducing her first children’s book The Horse That Wouldn’t Gallop, enthusiastically discussing meeting the book’s illustrator Tony Ross for the first time earlier in the day. He had free rein with his work, bar the heroine of the novel, who Clare had already envisioned. (more…)
Clara Vulliamy talks to Nohely Gedeon about Dotty Detective and working with Shirley Hughes.
With over 30 years’ experience as an illustrator and author, Clara Vulliamy has brought to life many favourite characters and Dot from Dotty Detective is no exception. (more…)
Nicholas Allan talked to lucky attendees about his hilarious book The Queen’s Knickers this morning. He has kindly donated the picture he drew to be auctioned. It’s your chance to own an exclusive, original souvenir of the festival!
Please send your bid to donaldandkirsty@yahoo.co.uk or text 07909881459 by 5pm on Monday 15 May. The winner will be notified on Tuesday. Good luck!
Proceeds from the auction will be donated to support libraries at local primary schools.
Marcia Williams endeared herself to the girls attending her morning tea at Sonny’s Kitchen, says Nohely Gedeon.
The author and illustrator of Lizzie Bennett’s Diary enthralled everyone – from the girls and their mothers to the event organisers – as she spoke of her works and the importance of keeping a diary. (more…)
Sarah Gibb has a special kind of talent, able to bring a magical mix of classic and contemporary fairytale imagery to live with the stroke of a brush, explains Nohely Gedeon.
She has illustrated work for authors like Jojo Moyes, Catherine Alliot and Holly Webb. Sarah’s illustrations of classic fairytales we grew up with – Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast – pull you in and enchant you with the vivacity and whimsy of the pages. (more…)
Axel Scheffler is a multi-awarded winning illustrator best known for his work with author Julian Donaldson, in particular The Gruffalo. But that wasn’t how he was introduced by Sacha Joynathsing (pictured on Axel’s left, above). (more…)
From cackling, wicked witches to blue-scaled snake princesses, some of the most traditional fairy tales have been forgotten over time. Bethany Park spoke to award-winning author Jamila Gavin about the extraordinary nature of fairy tales and their importance in reflecting a modern, multicultural Britain. (more…)
Ed Vere introduced his new character Grumpy Frog to a packed hall, reports Sian Kissock.
The award-winning illustrator started by asking children what they love to draw. Answers ranged from big cats, dinosaurs and slugs to flowers, fruit and pirate ships. The audience read Banana together – a picture book about a monkey with a banana and another who wants it, but has to learn to say the magic word first. (more…)
Award-winning author of the Pet Defender and Dragon Detective Agency series Gareth P Jones joined us at Barnes for a silly and hilarious song-filled event. He talks to Bethany Park about his love of detective writing, his Pet Defender series and how to detect an alien.
What is your favourite of the books you have written?
For older readers, Death or Ice Cream is definitely my favourite. But for the younger readers, I would definitely choose Beards from Outer Space.
Do you have a favourite character?
A character from my first books, which were about a dragon called Dirk. Your first books and characters are always going to hold a special place in your heart!
What inspired you to write children’s detective and alien novels?
I have always liked making stuff up, and I have always liked using my imagination. With most jobs it is not that good to be somebody who doesn’t necessarily tell the truth… so, I am better at this job than the other jobs I have previously done! With the alien genre, I think reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was probably my biggest influence. And with detective novels, well, I have always had a huge love of that genre. I used to make TV shows about detective writers.
Can you give us three ways to detect an alien, and if we were to catch one, how we can eliminate it?
Firstly, aliens can’t tell jokes. They don’t have the same sense of humour, you see, so you could ask them to tell a joke – that is probably the easiest way. Secondly, the smell will help you detect an alien. They have quite a distinctive smell, but you might need a dog to sniff out whether it is an alien or not. And finally, squirt shaving cream at them because that could kill them!
How did you come up with such unique ideas for the Pet Defenders books?
I am actually allergic to dogs and cats so that did make the books particularly difficult to write. But I like the idea of something happening that we can’t see. We have this idea that our pets are sitting around not doing anything, but in fact they’re doing things that are much more extraordinary.
Images by lieselbocklphotography.com; @LieselBockl
Christian O’Connell swapped his 2 million radio listeners for a packed room of parents and children at the OSO Arts Centre to talk about his new book Radio Boy.
The Absolute Radio presenter’s first children’s novel is the story of a boy called Spike who, under the mysterious moniker Radio Boy, becomes a secret superstar radio presenter.
It’s Christian’s first foray into children’s literature and he told us that the book owed a lot to the work of his daughters-come-editors.
“Every chapter I would print off and they would go over with Sharpie pens and just pull apart,” Christian said. “We’d end up having really bad arguments. Sometimes I’d actually be really hurt, because you know you create this thing, and then they kick it to shreds.”
“But bit by bit there were fewer Sharpie notes and then finally there were no scribblings and that was when I knew the book was ready to go to the publisher.”
Not only did Christian’s two daughters help out with the editing, but also the fact checking.
“There’s was one bit where Spike was going to have a Facebook page for his radio show, cos everyone’s on Facebook these days, but they told me that no child his age would have a Facebook page so they took that out.
“If I’d left that in children would have read it and thought ‘yeah, but that would never happen’. Having that realness was really important to me.”
Christian told us that he’d already started work on a sequel to Radio Boy and hopes he’s learnt enough to avoid any more father-daughter editorial bust-ups.
“I’m going through it all again with the second book and luckily there’s a lot fewer Sharpie scribblings this time.”
Images by lieselbocklphotography.com; @LieselBockl
Axel Scheffler drew Stick Man for entranced Festival attendees this morning. He has kindly donated this picture to be auctioned this weekend. It’s your chance to own an exclusive, original Axel Scheffler drawing!
Please send your bid to donaldandkirsty@yahoo.co.uk or text 07909881459 by 6.30pm on Sunday 14 May. The winner will be notified on Monday. Good luck!
Axel will dedicate the drawing to the winner. Proceeds from the auction will be donated to support libraries at local primary schools.
Is Libby Greenhill the youngest author to appear at a literature festival? We had such fun listening to the eight-year-old today! She read fantastic fun stories from her book The Lost Bunny and the Worried Kitten to lots of families and eager kids.
Libby wrote her book to raise money for the RSPCA, and is already planning another one.
It was a full house at The Olympic Cinema as legendary author and illustrator Judith Kerr took to her seat on the stage to reminisce about her remarkable life and books. Missed it? Arno Bryant brings you her memories of fleeing Nazi Germany, her love of Google and her stand for feline feminism.
Judith Kerr is one of Barnes’ most prestigious residents, having enjoyed a long career creating some of the most loved characters in children’s literature. Her book The Tiger Who Came To Tea is one of the bestselling children’s books of all time alongside her famous series of Mog the Cat stories.
Daughter of influential German theater critic and outspoken detractor of Hitler Alfred Kerr, Judith grew up amid the rising anti-Semitism of 1930’s Berlin and fled with her family just before the election of Hitler.
“We got to Zurich the day before the election and the morning after the election we heard that they had come to our house and demanded all our passports… My nearly 93 years are due to those two days,” Judith said. It’s a period in her life that would later inspire her novel When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit.
Judith Kerr in conversation with Nicolette Jones, Children’s Book Editor of The Sunday Times.
She spent much of her time drawing while living in Switzerland and then France. She showed the audience a series of her childhood sketches, one of which showed a windmill on top of a Dutch mountain. “I was never good at geography,” she laughed, “it would be a good place for a windmill if they had a mountain.”
She later moved to London for Art School where she “learned to draw properly,” but she states that she now gets inspiration from an unlikely source, namely Google. “You can google ‘open mouth tigers’ and it comes up and shows you where the teeth are which you could never do before. You could wait for hours at the zoo and never see that.”
She then won a scholarship at London’s Central School of Art and Design where she officially studied illustration, but actually spent her time doing life drawing. “For nearly three years I’d sign on in the illustration room then go and do whatever I liked… but then one day some idiot bureaucrat decided we needed a diploma and must write a thesis which naturally I was expected to do in illustration, and I hadn’t done any. It’s the only exam I’ve ever failed in my life.”
She took a job at the BBC, where her husband Nigel Kneale was a screenwriter, later leaving to have her two children. It was when making up stories for her daughter Tacy that the idea for The Tiger Who Came To Tea was formulated. “She used to say ‘talk the tiger’ quite menacingly, which I found quite annoying cos’ I thought my other stories were perfectly decent as well.”
It would be five years later, when both her children were at school, that she found time to make the story into a picture book. Her next foray into picture books was the hugely popular Mog serious inspired by her own cat of the same name. “When Mog was translated into German they made her a tom-cat, and I said, ‘no she’s female’, but they said ‘such an energetic enterprising cat must be a tom cat’… so I thought, ‘I’ll show them’, so in the next book she had kittens,” Judith grinned.
Now 93, Judith hasn’t stopped writing or illustrating and her latest book Mister Cleghorn’s Seal, a story of a man and his friendly seal, is incredibly based on a true story. It’s testament to her extraordinary life that the revelation that her father once adopted an orphaned seal before taking him on a train to his home in Berlin, comes as little surprise to the audience.
Judith is currently working on a new book which, although she is yet to reveal the story, she confirmed she’s completed a number of pages for. Watch this space.
Images by lieselbocklphotography.com; @LieselBockl
Faraway places and beautiful landscapes… Malika Kingston joined the Festival audience for a photographic adventure as the author of The Dreamsnatcher and The Shadow Keeper shared her inspirations.
Energetic and inspiring, that’s Abi Elphinstone. Before becoming an author of magical adventure books she was a teacher. It took seven years and being told ‘no’ by over 90 publishers before her first book, The Dreamsnatcher, was published.
But persistence is key and sequel The Shadow Keeper followed.
Much like method acting, Abi could be described as a method writer – her research taking her to some of the most remote locations in the world. A Mongolian Eagle Huntress inspired a main character in one of the books she is researching. “It all started when I saw this photo,” she said clicking to a slide in her presentation that showed a 13-year-old girl sitting high up on a rock formation in tribal clothing and a big fur hat, beautiful mountains stretching out behind her. The girl had a big smile on her face as she released a golden eagle to hunt. “I remember seeing this photo online and thinking, ‘there’s a story behind this’.”
Not content to simply continue her research online, Abi decided she was going to look for the girl and find out exactly what that story was. This adventure took her all the way to Mongolia where she spent time with the Kazakh eagle hunters.
Her vivid descriptions, props and photographs of her travels had both the children and their parents hanging on her every word. “I’ve seen the northern lights ripping across the sky. And killer whales jump out of the water,” she told the audience.
As she continued to speak about her adventures abseiling into caves in Brazil and being circled by wild wolves, she made sure to bring it back to home. She reminded the children that although we live in a big world with many far away places to explore, there are also adventures to be had right in our back yards. “Look up and look out. Be curious and go on your own adventures,” she said, adding: “Although our world is quite broken, and lots of things go wrong and there’s a lot of sadness, it’s also beautiful. You have to just take that and not expect it to be perfect.”
It was a truly inspirational hour, and afterwards Abi posed for photographs with her fans, signed books and spoke to everyone she could.
She’s been named one of the most borrowed authors in the library. Now Holly Webb returns with a sequel to one of the most famous children’s books of all time. And brings another hit event at the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival, says Sagal Mohammed.
Best-selling children’s author and self-proclaimed reading addict, Holly Webb was welcomed to the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival by an excited crowd as she discussed her latest release, Return to the Secret Garden, before creating colourful flower pots with her enthusiastic audience.
“The idea for the book came about five years ago,” she said of her follow-up to The Secret Garden, the much-loved 1911 classic by Frances Hodgson Burnett. “My editor and I were talking about our favourite childhood books and we both loved The Secret Garden…so she suggested I should write a sequel.”
However, being the creative genius that she is, Holly decided to add a special twist to her version of the story, setting it in 1939 – 28 years later than the original book. “I didn’t want it to be just another copy of the original – I needed to have something that made it my own, I needed new characters. What gave me the idea for the new characters was realising how old the children from the original book would be,” she said before reading aloud extracts from the book.
When asked what the most difficult part of penning a sequel had been, the editor turned writer – who’s written over 100 books and has been crowned one of the most borrowed authors in the library – admitted that she struggled to visualise the actual garden in the first book in order to write about it in her own. “The descriptions are very beautiful but they’re not very accurate in terms of what is actually in the garden, so I had to keep flicking through to pick out things she had said.”
Nevertheless, she described the process as “exciting and different” – just like the flower pot decorating extravaganza that followed.
Illustrating children’s books is a notoriously competitive industry to get into. Given Barnes spent the weekend heaving with artistic talent it seemed only fair to garner some advice for anyone starting out. So we asked four seriously renowned illustrators for their golden rules for any aspiring artists.
“My Golden Rule is that anything that happens within the story should always be moving the story along. Characters should never have a conversation that doesn’t actually impact what is happening to them. Everything that happens and everywhere they go should always be furthering the adventure.” Lorenzo Etherington, of comic book duo The Etherington Brothers.
“If I’m not enjoying it, then the reader won’t enjoy it. So have enthusiasm and passion.” Marcia Williams, the illustrator behind Comic Strip Classics.
“I don’t have a magic formula, but I always tell people to look at a lot of art, go to museums and stay curious.” Axel Scheffler, creator of The Gruffalo.
“Just do it all the time or as much as you can. All you need is a pencil and your imagination.” Garry Parsons, whose latest works include Are You The Pirate Captain?
Compiled by Arno Bryant, Malika Kingston and Juliet Vandensteen
Calling all budding novelists! Do you have a story to tell, but just don’t know where to start? Acclaimed author Frances Hardinge is here to help, says Sagal Mohammed.
With multiple awards under her belt, including the 2015 Costa Book of the Year award for her epic children’s novel The Lie Tree, Frances Hardinge knows exactly how to tell a gripping tale. Revealing her working process to the literature lovers and young, budding authors who fill the Barnes Booktop Marquee, she dishes out some useful advice on how to discipline yourself when writing a book. Here are her top five tips:
- Just start writing
For many, the first step is the hardest. Getting your thoughts onto paper can be difficult, but Frances suggests writing down everything you think of whether you think it’s brilliant or terrible. “I have brainstorming documents, brain files…they help me think things through,” she says.
2. Give yourself mini deadlines
“The best thing about writing is the freedom, but the worst thing about writing is the freedom,” she admits, emphasising the importance of setting yourself small, realistic deadlines throughout the writing process. But be patient – Frances explains that writing a first draft normally takes her a year.
3. Join a writers’ group
Throughout her talk, Frances refers to the significance of writers’ groups for support and feedback. “Sometimes there will be a chapter which isn’t quite working and I cannot think why so it’s good to have someone else with a fresh pair of eyes to say, ‘Well I didn’t understand this’ or ‘This could be said like that,’ and then I find things start to click again,” she says.
4. Get used to looking for ideas in unexpected places
Being alert helps Frances find inspiration in all sorts of places and can be a great way to get new ideas for your story.
5. Read as much as you can
Last but not least, a nice way to gain inspiration is by reading the work of other authors. “The more books you encounter and voices you hear, the easier it is to find your own.”
Images by lieselbocklphotography.com; @LieselBockl
Video game writer Alex Wiltshire fights the corner for Minecraft’s role as a creative outlet – and wins. Arno Bryant joins the fun.
To those who have missed out on the craze, Minecraft is a sandbox video game that invites the player to create worlds through the collection and assemblage of materials. “It’s all about living in a world made of blocks that do different things,” says Alex Wiltshire, author of the popular Minecraft Blockopedia. “It’s about explorations, creativity and problem solving – it’s about whatever you want to put into it, whether you want to build or simply have new experiences.”
In his Festival talk, Alex explains the process he went through while writing his Minecraft guide – over 300 pages of facts and insider secrets. His research appears more like a series of scientific experiments as he tests the different properties of the blocks within the game. He goes on to show off some of the constructions he’s created while playing alongside his five-year-old son. However, in his audience, Alex faces a unique challenge. While the children sit bolt upright, engrossed, their parents seem distracted, much to annoyance of their kids.
Alex hopes that by helping parents to understand Minecraft, he can help dispel some of the negative correlations that come with video games. “The game is really good at teaching you. At first you go into the world and you can’t do much, but as you get more tools you can do more things,” he says. “The thing about Minecraft is that it’s so complicated that parents often don’t play with their kids. But they could do because there are lots of ways to play together.”
Alex believes that it’s the process of getting lost in a world that attracts children to the game but can alienate parents. “As a child everything is new all the time and I think that’s why they are drawn to it,” he says.
As families queue up to get their books signed at the end of the event, its noticeable that parents are attempting to engage more in their children’s hobby, referencing “the red ones” or the “control block thingies”. Alex is enthusiastic: “Hopefully parents now understand more about the game, instead of just seeing a load of blocks on a screen.”
What do you get when you mix one of Britain’s best-loved author/ illustrators with a live orchestra? A sell-out show and one mesmerised room of kids, says Anthony Pius.
Anthony Browne, the creator of children’s literature’s most famous chimp, Willy, joined forces with his wife Jane, the violinist and composer of Adriamus Ensemble, to bring his books to life in Barnes.
The performance was full of movement, energy and expression. Using voices, pictures, and a string quartet and saxophone, the children were taken on a journey to explore their imaginations, from being taught dance moves to saving Willy the Wimp from a gorilla gang.
“I actually wrote the music for Willy the Wimp 20 years ago for a children’s orchestra I used to run,” says Jane. “The children acted it out which sparked the idea for a children’s concert.”
You may be thinking that this type of performance will take months to rehearse, but the Adriamus Ensemble fine tune their masterpieces in just two days.
“I really think the children enjoy it and learn something. It’s nice to see them getting involved in the singing, clapping and just having fun,” says cello player Nick Squires. The best bit? “Seeing the children smile as we perform.”
This was the first time the Adriamus Ensemble had performed for a children’s literature festival. And Jane doesn’t want to stop there. This event has inspired her to write more music for children’s literature. “It’s perfect,” she says. “We do arts festivals and music festivals but this is really nice. We are so ready for more children’s festivals!”
Images by lieselbocklphotography.com; @LieselBockl
What’s next for fantasy writer Cornelia Funke and her latest Mirror World series? Malika Kingston joins the excited audience at her Festival talk to find out.
St Mary’s Church in Barnes was packed, almost every seat occupied, even the awkward ones on the side. Who was everyone eagerly waiting to see? Million copy selling German-born fantasy writer Cornelia Funke. In a rare visit to the UK, the author of the Inkheart trilogy was here to talk about her life as a writer and bestselling books.
Cornelia started by speaking about living in Los Angeles and the late start to her writing career. She was a social worker and an illustrator before moving into writing children’s fiction. It wasn’t until the age of 28 that she decided to write.
As you’d expect, writing a bestselling novel takes time. Cornelia explained it takes her a year or more of research to create the foundations of the world she wants to bring to life before she even starts to write the story. “I’ve been working on the MirrorWorld series for eight years, so I know the roads, I know the name of every country, I know exactly what I’m moving into.”
Although her readers love the fairy fantasy series, her US editors had a different reaction to the third title. They wanted her to change some of the chapters – including moving the birth scene in the opening chapter – and tone down the language. This was a breaking point for Cornelia and caused her to go it alone, launching her own publishing house called Breathing Books. She then released Reckless – The Golden Yarn exactly as she intended to, “French swear words” and all.
Setting up a publishing house didn’t come without its challenges. Cornelia explained that when she found out her publishers didn’t want to release her next book without changes, it was just six months before it was supposed to hit bookshelves in the US. “I had to find a company, find line edits, get the book done, find a printer. It was a mad rush to keep that promise I had made,” she revealed. And she’s proud of her achievement. “I’m a storyteller for the world. I feel an obligation to all my readers.”
As the conversation went on, Cornelia talked about her early books, particularly Dragon Rider. Originally, there wasn’t going to be a sequel, but after 17 years she found the spark she needed to revisit the story. While working with artists on an App based on the book, she fell in love with the characters again, prompting her to write the next installment – a sequel her fans have always wanted!
To take a tour of Cornelia’s Writing House and stay in the know about the hotly anticipated Dragon Rider sequel, visit corneliafunke.com.
Malika Kingston got her pencil at the ready to find out how to draw a dragon from those in the know.
Dragonsitting is like babysitting with a few ‘minor’ differences. To start with it’s a bit more dangerous, chances are smoke will be involved and you’ll definitely have to clear up poop, lots and lots of poop.
Fortunately, none of the above dampened the enthusiasm of the children attending the lively talk and drawing workshop held by author of The Dragonsitter series Josh Lacey, and his illustrator Garry Parsons.
Author Josh Lacey
The talk began with Josh Lacey picking up one of his books to read. Simultaneously, Garry started drawing. In a matter of pen stokes his first dragon took shape. A bird that was peeking through the window made it onto the page and so too did dragon poop. In fact, whenever Josh Lacey mentioned the word poop Garry put more on the page, which led to lots of smiles and laughter from the children in the crowd.
Just like human characters, dragons have their fair share of personality. Josh asked the children at the event to describe a facial feature of a dragon and Garry drew it. First up they asked for a dragon with a long, ugly, nose with glasses sat on the end of it. Next came a dragon with wiry whiskers and grey scales surrounded by puffs of smoke where fire should have been. And finally, the children asked Garry to draw an old retired dragon which they beautifully named, Granny Smoke Breath.
It seemed there was no end to Garry’s artistic talents. Or was there? Josh challenged the children to think of something hard for Garry to draw and a boy in the front row brilliantly met the challenge. “Draw someone you don’t know,” he shouted. Garry was stumped, so as consolation for the crowd he drew Josh sitting on a giant donkey, on a camel, on top of the world.
The author/illustrator duo made the whole event fun. Garry ended the talk with some advice for the children attending who love to draw. It was simply this – enjoy it and do lots more of it. After all there are no special tools required. All you need says Garry is “a pencil and your imagination”.
Husky sledding and cooking piranha fish are all part of the fun-filled research that goes into writing Katherine Rundell’s novels. Bethany Parks finds out more.
Katherine Rundell’s new novel The Wolf Wilder has been described as a children’s classic in the making. The snow-filled fairytale is full of adventure, wolves, and a girl’s determination to rescue her mother.
What research did you do for The Wolf Wilder?
I have always loved writing about cold and weather so when I was researching this book I went husky-sledding in the Lyngen Alps in Norway. It was wonderful and cold, and we travelled across snow for days and days.
It is good to know as much as you can about a location you want to write about. Although I got to the point where I thought I had probably seen a lot more of a husky’s bottom than I ever wanted to.
And for your next book you travelled down The Amazon. Did any of your adventures make it into your writing?
When we were travelling along the river pink dolphins swam under our boat. We jumped into the water and swam after them. It was one of the best experiences. I like to include real moments like these in my books, so it can become more real for other people.
What other writing techniques do you use to male book seem more real to your readers?
I like describing food. If you can make your readers hungry, you can make it feel real. I always try to cook the food that I include in the books. We wanted to include cooked piranha fish in my next book, so we caught piranha in The Amazon.
You have some pretty unusual hobbies, such as tightrope walking. Why does this interest you?
Tightrope walking is somewhat like reading. It completely empties your mind of all other thoughts. I learned quite recently how to do it in high-heeled shoes, because I saw someone do it at a circus. I sprained my ankles for a year, but now I can do it… and it is the least useful talent in the world.
What advice would you give to any young writers?
Read everything. Always write about something you would love to read, not what the market would love to read. Be really, really focused and if necessary, tie yourself to a chair.
What adventures can we expect next?
My novel based in the Amazon will be out in 2017. I have also written a play based on the short stories of Saki, called Life According to Saki, which will be performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August this year.
Images by lieselbocklphotography.com; @LieselBockl