Murder Most Unladylike - Robin Stevens – Author Interview - 3D Review

Robin Stevens was born in California and grew up in an Oxford college, across the road from the house where Alice in Wonderland lived. She has been making up stories all her life.

When she was twelve, her father handed her a copy of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and she realised that she wanted to be either Hercule Poirot or Agatha Christie when she grew up. When it occurred to her that she was never going to be able to grow her own spectacular walrus moustache, she decided that Agatha Christie was the more achieveable option.

She spent her teenage years at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, reading a lot of murder mysteries and hoping that she’d get the chance to do some detecting herself (she didn’t). She then went to university, where she studied crime fiction, and now she works at a children’s publisher, which is pretty much the best day job she can imagine.

Robin now lives in Cambridge with her boyfriend and her pet bearded dragon, Watson.

What was your favourite children’s book as a child?

Either The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson or the Chrestomanci books by Diana Wynne Jones. I loved magic and adventure, but I hated it when they ended with the end of the book’s story. Both Diana Wynne Jones and Eva Ibbotson show magic spilling over into ordinary life and changing it forever, and that’s what made their books so special for me.

What is your favourite children’s book as an adult?

Still anything by Ibbotson and Wynne Jones! I think they’re timelessly perfect.

What do you think makes children’s books so inspirational?

Children’s books are so special because they are one of the ways a child first sees the world. They bring children into contact with ideas and stories for the very first time, and so they have incredible impact. Every adult – even the ones who don’t see themselves as readers any more – can instantly tell you about the children’s books that affected them, and that says a lot about kidlit’s power to shape people.

Why did you start writing for children?

I started writing as a child (actually, I ‘wrote’ my first story before I could read, because I didn’t understand how writing worked), and I just never stopped! These days, everything I write seems to end up being a middle-grade novel – I think because that was when I first read the books that really inspired me. Those are the readers I want to reach.

What made you want to write this book?

I went to an English boarding school, just like the one that Daisy and Hazel go to – but as an American, I wasn’t exactly the typical pupil. I was totally fascinated by boarding school life, and I couldn’t stop noticing how weird it was. It always seemed to me like the perfect setting for a detective novel. I’ve known since I was about fifteen that I was going to write a boarding school murder mystery one day!

What is your favourite aspect of writing for children?

When you’re a child, almost everything feels new and interesting – you’re constantly having experiences for the very first time, and that makes children fantastic characters to write about, and a great audience to write for. They’re also the most discerning readers around: they won’t tolerate writing that’s boring or slow, and if they don’t like a book they’ll just put it down and read something else. I think that’s a brilliant challenge – and I hope I’m up to it!

Murder Most Unladylike has a tightly knitted complex plot, have you any tips on how to plot (and not get you yarn in knots!)

It’s a huge relief to hear people saying that the plot works now! It took me a lot of discussion with my agent, and then more discussion with my editor, before I managed to sort out my ideas and my alibis into something vaguely coherent. What I’ve learnt is that it’s important not to overcomplicate things. When you’re constructing a mystery plot, you only need five red herrings at most – three is absolutely fine. I’ve also discovered spreadsheets. I ended up creating a gigantic Excel document for the evening of my murder, with the characters’ movements divided up in five minute slots. It let me make absolutely sure that everyone was doing the things they were supposed to for the story – and also let me check that I hadn’t written two characters into the same ‘empty’ room at the same time!

You yourself went to boarding school (although obviously not in the 1930’s). How different was your experience to Hazel and Daisy’s?

Hazel’s and Daisy’s school life absolutely isn’t mine. I never discovered a murder, I was never alive in the 1930s and (most importantly) I was never taught by the people who teach my detectives. But I did spend many depressing hours hanging around on wet sports fields, I learnt Latin, I went to San and I ate masses of bunbreak (and tea, and dinner, and after-dinner snacks . . . there was a lot of food involved in my school days). So Deepdean is a complete invention, but one that’s based on my memories.

Do Hazel and Daisy have any more mysteries to solve? If so can you give us some hints of what to expect?

They absolutely do! I’m delighted to say that there will be two more Wells & Wong Mysteries. In fact, I’m already working on the second draft of Wells & Wong 2, so I certainly know what’s next for the girls! The book will be called Arsenic for Tea, and it takes place in Daisy’s country mansion, Fallingford, during the Easter holidays after the events of Murder Most Unladylike. From the official Random House blurb:

Daisy's glamorous mother is throwing a tea party for Daisy's birthday, and Daisy's eccentric family are all invited. Then one of their party falls seriously, mysteriously ill - and everything points to poison.

With furious storms preventing anyone from leaving, or the police from arriving, Fallingford suddenly feels like a very dangerous place to be. No one at Fallingford is what they seem - and everyone has a secret or two. And when someone very close to Daisy looks suspicious, the Detective Society must do everything they can to reveal the truth . . . no matter the consequences. It’ll be released in early 2015, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’m enjoying writing it now!

Question From our Child Reviewer Isobel (aged 9): I would like to ask the author if she ever went to boarding school, and if so, what was the most exciting thing that occurred while she was there?

I certainly did go to boarding school - a girls' boarding school very like the one that Daisy and Hazel go to - but sadly, nothing really exciting ever happened to me while I was there. I was always hoping it would: I watched my teachers very carefully in case they did anything suspicious, but they never did. I actually once followed two of them around the supermarket to see if they had any shocking secrets, but all they did was buy cereal, like normal people. Actually, our teachers were just as interested in us as we were in them. They thought that we would try to run away - or even worse, run away with boys. There were always a few people who managed it every year, but the worst things my friends and I ever did was disguise ourselves as different people so we would be given second bunbreak. We also used to hide ourselves at the bottom of our wardrobes to get out of going to church on Sundays. If there had been a murder, though, I'm quite sure that we would have been on the case immediately

For a chance to win a copy of Murder Most Unladylike tweet us with the hash tag #MMU3DReview to @BookshelfSpace or e-mail us atspaceonthebookshelf@yahoo.com with MMU GIVEAWAY in the subject bar. Good Luck!

Review of The Bell Between Worlds and Interview with author Ian Johnston

Book review of Ian Johnstone's The Bell Between Worlds by Isobel aged 9

This book is about a boy called Sylas Tate who can make a drawing come alive with just his imagination. He doesn't know how he got his talent until he goes into a different world and meets a group of people who know how he got them.

My favourite part is the bit where Sylas is running  to the passing bell, which takes people from one world to another. Sylas has just met the Ghor (half dog / half man)
It is a bit like the book Time City by Diana Wynne Jones because in both books there are two different worlds and it could be the end of the universe.

It is harder to understand than Harry Potter but easier to understand than Lord of the Rings.
I recommend it to ages 9+. I would like to read a book about Sylas's mum and dad and how his mum got her powers.

Author Interview Ian Johnsone

 

What was your favourite children’s book as a child?

Hmm, that’s difficult. It’s a close-run thing between The Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton and a number of Roald Dahl books, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Danny the Champion of the World, but I think The Faraway Tree would probably win overall. I loved the underlying idea – a gateway to other worlds in the highest reaches of an enchanted tree – such a clever extension of every child’s excitement when they climb scarily high in a tree – excitement derived in part from leaving the normal world behind and going somewhere adults can’t or won’t go. It was the first time that I came across such a convincing gateway to another world married with such a wonderful concept for those fantastical places and I have been interested in them ever since.

What is your favourite children’s book as an adult?

Another tricky choice! I love The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve and the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. But in truth I still adore the books I loved as a child and, perhaps because they are still laced with that wonder I felt when I read them in my youth, they are probably still my favourites. So, the short answer would be The Faraway Tree.

What do you think makes children’s books so inspirational?

I think one of the key reasons why they inspire us is that they assume a capacity for wonder and an ability to suspend disbelief and go with a story wherever it may take you. By contrast, adult fiction often spends a lot of time and lines establishing its credibility, even when the premise is fantastical. That’s heavy work for the writer and for the reader, and I think as a consequence it can’t go as far as quickly or get there as accessibly as a children’s book can. I also think that children’s fiction explores great universal themes, such as good and evil, love, friendship, family, adversity, triumph and so on – themes that apply to us all and to our whole lives – and they do so from a perspective of innocence that we all treasure.

Why did you start writing for children?

My answer to the last question is actually a pretty good answer to this one! But to expand a little, I was always aware that the majority of the most influential books in my life were those that I read when I was a child, when I had that capacity for wide-eyed wonder, to go with a story wherever it might take me, to get lost in its ideas and themes. I have wanted to write since I was a child, and I always knew that if and when I did, I would want to write for the immense imaginative capacity of children. That capacity is even a theme of the book!

What made you want to write this book?

Well, I suppose I could say ‘everything I have said so far!’, but there is also a rather specific history to this story. When I was about twelve I had an idea: what if one of the reasons we can sometimes doubt ourselves – feel so unsure of ourselves – is that we are not quite whole? And what if that other part of ourselves was another person living in another world? What might that person be like? And how might they be connected to us? That idea still intrigued me after all these years – in fact it had grown into something much bigger – and so I decided that it had to be written!

What is your favourite aspect of writing for children?

In the actual writing phase I love letting my imagination go and seeing where it takes me – in children’s writing, there are almost no limits! After the book is written, I count it a great privilege to meet young readers. It is wonderful to hear their impressions of the story and the characters – it makes all the hard work worthwhile.

Your description in The Bell Between Worlds, is beautifully evocative, do you have any tip you can share on how to write description?

Thank you that’s very kind of you! Well for me, two of the key things to remember when describing things are that they are three-dimensional and that they may act on all of our senses. It is important to try to look around the thing you are describing and sometimes to hear them, smell them, touch them and taste them as well as to see them. If you can do that your imaginings will become more real to you as the writer, and as long as you then put some of your impressions down, they will also become more real to your reader. Of course there is a balance to be found between saying too little and too much, so one good tip is to decide which senses are the most appropriate to the thing you are describing and focus on those. Another tip is to give some thought to the “route” you are going to take when describing something – think of yourself as a tour guide and find the sequence of description that is most engaging and easiest to picture or understand.

Interview Questions from Isobel our child reviewer.


In the book Sylas makes the bird wind chime fly, what would you make something do?

What a great question! Well in truth many of the things I write are things I would love to do. I had the idea for the Groundrush when I was walking down a steep forested hillside in New Zealand. It had been a really hard climb to get to the top and we were very tired so when I saw a stream tumbling down the hillside I found myself wishing that I could use it as a water slide. The more I thought about it the more I thought it would make an incredibly exciting ride – darting between the trees and over mossy banks – and so the Groundrush was born. But I suppose the most exciting creation to me is the symphony on the Windrush towards the end of the book – I won’t say too much because I don’t want to ruin it for anyone, but I would love to witness something as beautiful and powerful as that!

At the start of the book it has lots of information that you need later, have you thought about a companion book, with maps and character information.

I certainly have. I think the Samarok might make a nice publication in its own right, as it contains many stories from the history of the Other, including lots more about its magic, its creatures, its peoples and events like the Undoing and the Reckoning. I also hope to release some pieces of writing that did not make the final cut. We have already published a Prologue to the trilogy and a deleted scene on Goodreads, here: Goodreads

Faerie Tribes The Crystal Mirror - Author Interview - Paula Harrison

This month our celebrated book is Faerie Tribes, The Crystal Mirror, by Paula Harrison author of the fabulous Rescue Princesses Series. Faerie Tribes is the first of her new series of books for middle-grade readers. Over the next few days we will be posting, reviews by adults and a child alike, an editor interview plus a Spotlight on Writing article. If that wasn't enough we're also giving away a copy of the book signed by Paula!

Paula Harrison is the author of Faerie Tribes (for older readers) and The Rescue Princesses (a younger series). She wanted to be a writer from a young age but spent many happy years being a primary school teacher first. She finds inspiration in lots of things from cloud shapes to snippets of conversation. She loves sandy beaches and eating popcorn. She lives with her husband and children in Buckinghamshire, which is nowhere near the sea. Whenever possible, she packs her family into the car and journeys far and wide to find a sandy beach where she can paddle in the waves.

What was your favourite children’s book as a child?

That’s a really tricky question. There were just so many! Most of my favourites were from the fantasy genre, so I’ll pick The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper.

What is your favourite children’s book as an adult?

Well, it’s still The Dark is Rising and other book from that genre that I enjoyed. Except now I’d have to add some more recently written books such as The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

What do you think makes children’s books so inspirational?

They touch your mind while it’s still growing and changing. They help you find out who you are and who you want to be.

Why did you start writing for children?

I never really outgrew books for children. I did an English degree but then returned to the books I loved as a child and young adult.

What made you want to write this book?

The idea of a reality hidden beneath our normal everyday world fascinates me. I think it plugs into that feeling children have that adults aren’t telling them everything. Imagine if there was a secret so huge that it changed your perspective on the world and everyone you knew. That’s what happens to Laney Rivers.

What is your favourite aspect of writing for children?

Putting myself in their shoes.

Do you think of your books as books for girls, or books with girl protagonists?

Both and neither! I think there’s a certain point where you let the story fly and let the readers get what they want from it. Lots of boys would love Faerie Tribes in the way they love other series with fantasy and a character searching for identity. Conventional publishing wisdom says boys won’t read about girl protagonists though, and there’s nothing I can do about that.

This book and your series for younger readers, ‘The Rescue Princesses’ feature feisty heroines, is this a matter close to you heart?

It isn't something that I deliberately chose to write about. These girls just bound on to my page. I’m very interested in characters like Laney, who have to dig deep to find their courage but do manage to find it all the same.

To win a signed copy of Faerie Tribes The Crystal Mirror, Just email us at SpaceOnTheBookshelf@yahoo.com with your name and address and 'Faerie Tribes' in the header. 

Good luck!

Author Interview: Dave Cousins, Waiting for Gonzo

The book up for review this month is Waiting for Gonzo, by Dave Cousins. We loved Dave's debut, Fifteen Days Without A Head, which has just won the Crystal Kite Award for Europe! Over the next few days, you can catch up on all things Gonzo, with an interview with the book's editor, a Spotlight on Writing feature, and two book reviews - one from us, and one from 15 year-old Emily. If you want to find out more about Dave, you can also find him at www.davecousins.net.

To kick things off though, a few words from the man of the hour himself...

Dave Cousins hard at work on his Acme Machine...

What was your favourite children’s book as a child? 

The Machine-Gunners by Robert Westall. If there’s one book that made me want to write, this is it. I loved this book from the moment I first picked it up, aged eleven. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it since. Even though it was published in the early seventies, the quality of the writing and storytelling means it still feels as fresh and exciting as ever.

What is your favourite children’s book as an adult? 

Difficult question! There have been so many great books published in recent years it’s impossible to choose just one. I recently enjoyed Daylight Saving by Edward Hogan and Grounded by Sheena Wilkinson. I was lucky enough to get an early copy of Sara Grant’s Half Lives, which is brilliant, and I’m really enjoying Slated by Teri Terry at the moment. I’m also halfway through re-reading Bryan Lee O’Malley’s superb Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels.

What makes children’s books so inspirational? 

To keep young people reading, stories have to really engage. There’s no room for self-indulgence, clichéd characters or lack of story. Secondly, I think the teenage years are a fascinating time to write about – filled with doubt and discovery – the time when we struggle to learn who we are and find our place in the world.

Why did you start writing for children? 

Ever since I was quite young, my response to things that happened to me, or stuff I heard about, was to turn them into stories, songs or drawings. Many years later, inspired by some of the fantastic books I’d read, I decided to sit down and have a go myself! The fact that the stories I find myself writing always have a teenage character at their heart makes me suspect I’m still roughly thirteen in my head!

What made you want to write this book? 

To keep going for the length of time it takes to write a book, I have to really care about the characters and the things that are happening to them. 

Waiting for Gonzo started as one of many ideas that sat around in a notebook for years, before my narrator Oz arrived and transformed the spark into a story I wanted to tell. Once characters come to life a story gains its own momentum and I have to type fast to keep up! I knew I wanted the book (and Oz’s character) to make readers laugh, but there were also some serious things happening to the characters. Getting the right balance of humour and heart was quite a challenge.

What’s your favourite aspect of writing for children? 

Being a writer is my dream job, but one of the most rewarding aspects of writing for young people is getting the chance to meet and talk to readers.

Teenagers are too often demonized, but I’m constantly inspired by the humour, ideas and enthusiasm of the students I meet in schools. I believe that sharing stories is hugely important, and it’s great being able to play a small part in this process.

And to top it all off, you can also win a signed copy of Waiting for Gonzo! Just email us at SpaceOnTheBookshelf@yahoo.com with the name of the book in the header. The winner will be drawn on Friday 10th May - good luck!

Author Profile & Interview Mo O'Hara, My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish

Originally from America, I moved to London because I wanted to live abroad but spoke no foreign languages. After a brief and unsuccessful stint as a serving wench at the Tower of London I found work as an actress and comedy performer. I've performed regularly at the Edinburgh and London comedy festivals. A few years back, I got a job touring around the UK as a storyteller and that’s when I discovered that kids liked, laughed and didn't fall asleep when I performed stuff that I wrote myself. I was hooked on writing and performing for kids. Some quotes from kids about my storytelling sessions are:

“I guess you were a bit better than the rabbits with big heads that were here last week.”
“Can I rewind you and watch you again after lunch?”
And “How did you know me to put me in your story?”

I still live in London with my partner and two children, still speak no foreign languages (unless you count American) and I still have a sneaking suspicion that the rabbits with the big heads were really better than me but the kid was just being nice.

What was your favourite children’s book as a child? 

I wasn't a big reader as a kid actually. (Shock horror!)  I read from a very early age but liked to read fact books mostly and I loved reading plays. I loved Winnie the Pooh when I was little. And loved Shel Silverstein poems too. It took me a while to connect with a proper chapter book, though. I remember reading a book called 'Plain Girl'  by Virginia Sorensen about an Amish girl , when I was about 8 or 9 years old and feeling for the first time that I could really get into the head of the person in the story.  Also 'A Wrinkle in Time' a bit later, started me on a lifetime love of Science Fiction.

Just a couple of Mo's favourites...

What is your favourite children’s book as an adult?

I read Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner recently and that was absolutely incredible. I was totally unprepared for the amount of time I spent thinking about that book after I read it. It requires a lot of the reader, but it's so worth it. I loved Dark Parties by Sara Grant last year too and can't wait to read her next one. With  humour I love the Mr Gumm books for the surreal and the Danny Baker books for the silly. I now LOVE Roald Dahl stuff but when I was little the only one I read was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I've read most of his other books now as a grown up and wish I could go back and crack up 8 year old me by sharing them with her. My kids have a healthy diet of Roald Dahl now. 

What do you think makes children’s books so inspirational?  

For me it's voice and character. I want to have that same experience I had as an 8 year old when I connected with a character for the first time. I think the best way to do that is through a clear and authentic voice. If it's funny too then you have me completely.   

Why did you start writing for children?

I have a quote from Matilda over my desk, 

'Do you think that all children's books ought to have funny bits in them?' Miss Honey asked. 'I do,' Matilda said. 'Children are not so serious as grown-ups and they love to laugh.'  

That quote and Quentin Blake picture reminds me why I write. I write to make kids laugh. That's the bit I loved when I was acting for kids and that's the bit I still love most when I'm writing for them.

"Children are not so serious as grown-ups and they love to laugh."

What made you want to write this book?  

I wrote this book for a SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) Slushpile Challenge.  So I suppose on one level I started to write this book to get an agent, but I still think I wrote it to get a laugh. Old habits die hard.

I chose to write this story though because when I was little my big brother and I brought our goldfish back to life with a 9volt battery.  We'd seen a lot of hospital shows on TV and decided we could defib the fish and ... it worked. He lived for another year at least. 

From the start I had Tom's voice inside my head and I wanted to write a story with sibling relationships and friendship at the heart.  Oh yeah, and zombies of course. 

What is your favourite aspect of writing for children?  

My favourite aspect of writing for children is reading  the stuff to kids and hearing them laugh. That is honestly the best bit. If you told me that I could write but had to then be locked up and could never meet the kids who read my stuff and never see them crack up at a joke I wrote I would be miserable. I don't know if I could do it.  I get the most buzz from delivering the punchline to the kids and from seeing what they come up with. Kids are the best, non-sensored improvisers and I don't think I've ever had a school visit where I wasn't knocked out by at least one thing that they said or did. I like the getting the ideas down on the page and I love writing dialogue. But editing is really hard. Please tell me it gets easier the more you write?

‘My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish’ uses the illustrations to help deliver many of the jokes. Did you work closely with the illustrator? 

I've never met the amazing Marek Jagucki, who illustrated Zombie Goldfish. Macmillan found him and he has brought the book to life really. The kids I speak with love the illustrations.

I especially love the extra bits he puts in.  He added a random pigeon into a couple pages and I love that pigeon so much I'm going to write a mini spin off for him. 

He is just a funny illustrator, so the humour comes out in his drawings. The characters are brilliantly drawn and his pictures make me laugh at the jokes over again! 

I've got my eye on you...

The book is very funny! Is it difficult to write humour? Are you naturally a funny person?  

I think I'm a quietly funny person. I'm not the life of the party. I was never the class clown or anything, but I was always thinking funny stuff (or stuff that cracked me up at least) and sometimes I would feed funny lines to another kid to say when I was little. I was incredibly shy as a kid and it took me until college (US meaning) to come out of myself a bit. Acting helped a lot. I think I'm more gregarious now and the older I get the more confident I get really. I'll probably be a really arrogant pensioner at this rate!

Thanks very much to Mo O'Hara for joining us. If you like the sound of My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish, make sure you enter our giveaway! All you need to do is email us at spaceonthebookshelf@yahoo.com with your name and address. Make sure you put the title of the book in the subject line. We'd hate to send you the wrong book about a Zombie Goldfish! The winner will be chosen at random on Saturday 13th April.