Q&A For Your New Book

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1.     Tell us a bit about your new book.... what is it about?

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The Adventures of Rocket Kid is about a little boy named Jimmy who dreams of going to space. It is all he ever thinks about and when most kids are sleeping in bed at night he is running round his room dreaming about planets and stars.

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Opposite Jimmy lives a boy called Sully who is mean and laughs at Jimmy and tells him he will never get to space! Jimmy gets upset about this and whilst he is feeling a bit sorry for himself, he speaks to his mum who tells him that with hard work and determination anything can be achieved.

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This sparks a series of magical events that lead to Jimmy travelling to space and meeting some aliens, who help demonstrate that his mum’s advice is spot on!

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It has a greatly satisfying ending and hopefully leaves children remembering that fantastic bit of advice that Jimmy’s mum gave him.

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2.     Is it part of a series? Are you planning any more?

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Actually, as I was writing The Adventures of Rocket Kid, I very much so had it in my mind that it would be part of a growing series. I love the idea that through adventures into space a character could learn practical, motivational lessons that affect all of our lives.

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By basing the story around adventures into space and aliens etc the only real limitations are those within my imagination. For this reason I am currently working on the next book in this series. The core ideas and pattern of the first book provide a nice flexible structure, while my wild imagination can add to that exciting new spacey details and an original, motivational story.

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3.     What inspired you to write the book?

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This is a great question that I am asked all the time when I visit primary schools around the country. I guess every author has their own process for writing, but I would think my process may be a little different.

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As I am also an illustrator I draw and sketch a lot. I love drawing characters and giving them vivid expressions that would give any onlooker a good impression of their personality and the situation they are in. In one such drawing session I drew a young boy (that looked nothing like Jimmy/Rocket Kid) who was shooting off into space wearing a rocket pack on his back. He had a real look of determination on his face and the image as a whole really seemed to sink in. My mind just seemed to shoot into over mode and fill with narrative and fun ideas that really added a sense of adventure to my image.

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Over time these ideas just seemed to grow until eventually I had almost an entire story in my mind that I had to write down to escape insanity. When you mix that process with a love for children’s books, (particularly rhyming ones) the next step of actually writing it felt like it was actually almost done before I had put pen to paper.

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4.     Who do you think will enjoy reading the book?

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Hopefully the book appeals to different groups of people of varying ages, however if you pushed me for a specific answer, I would say it would mainly appeal to children between 3 and 6 who really enjoy a good, satisfying adventure story before they go to bed.

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I personally think one of the nicest things for a young family to share together is a book. It is a fantastic part of our culture that parents still read children’s stories to their little ones before bed. I would hate to think that that could ever be something that disappears, but if that is something you particularly treasure as a family, I think this would be the type of book you really love.

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5.     When did you start writing books and why?

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I guess I have always written in some way or another. Anyone who would consider themselves as being creative will have tried multiple outlets for their imagination. When I was younger I loved comics and therefore liked to write my own and create illustrations for them. As I got older I quite liked fantasy and sci-fi as a genre which meant my writing and illustrating started to head in that direction a bit more, but in my late teens and early twenties I spent some time working in children’s nurseries. I loved working with children and really enjoyed some of the great books they had at the nursery. I guess it was at this point where I really thought, I would love to write and illustrate children’s books as my job.

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6.     Which authors, dead or alive, inspire your writing?

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This is probably the hardest question for me to answer as I love so many books. I do like novels etc but I guess I will focus on children’s books to keep us on topic. The obvious mentions are Julia Donaldson whose books make me giggle, and Jonny Duddle is a good writer and a superb illustrator.

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However if I think back to the books that really had a lasting effect on me ‘The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew it Was None of His Business’ by Werner Holzwarth is a truly amazing book that is really simple, yet amazingly funny and unique. This book really demonstrated to me that a sound, solid idea regardless of how simple is the best foundation for a story. ‘Little Rabbit Foo Foo’ by Michael Rosen is another worthy mention that I remember enjoying when I was younger as well as an adult.

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7.     When is your book available to purchase and from where?

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The Adventures of Rocket Kid is available now online from obvious places like Amazon and the Waterstones site etc. You may find it in your local bookshops, but if they don’t have it, just ask and they will definitely be able to find it for you or order you a copy.

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Of course there is also the tia publishing website which is www.tiapublishing.com and they offer free postage which is great.

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