In honour of the fabulous Doodeedoo being released today, here is a great interview with author Tony Gilbert:
What books or authors have influenced your
writing?
As a
children’s author, my original and best influence would have to be Roald Dahl.
Now, that’s not to say that my writing style is even remotely similar but
‘Revolting Rhymes’, for example is right up my street. I love the mad rhymes
and crazy stories and I have tried to incorporate that type of thing into both
‘Doodeedoo’ and ‘Super Fred’.
Are you a ‘plotter’ or a ‘pantser’?
What’s
plotting? I’ve tried plotting my work before but I end up fighting with myself
and it completely changes during the actual writing. I think, what the hell,
I’ll write and see what happens. You don’t plot life, you roll with the punches
and that is what I try to do with my writing.
Do the illustrations come first, or the writing?
In
regards to my picture books this is? Writing first, every time. After all, the
illustrators are the ones with the talent, all I do is put a load of crazy
words together that shouldn’t rhyme, but really do.
Why have you chosen your particular genre?
To
tell you the truth, I haven’t. I love writing my picture book rhymes but I also
write novels for older children (‘The Youngest Knight’ comes out early 2015
through Ghostly Publishing) and adult fiction (recently my work has been
featured in a JWKFiction anthology, ‘Terror Train’ and my own short story/poem
collection, ‘Driftwood From The Specific’, comes out within the next two
months). I’m constantly trying different styles and age ranges and I’m not
ready to tie myself down to one in particular just yet.
What inspired you to get writing?
Truthfully
it’s a rather dull and cliché story. I have always been a big reader and one
day I went to my book shelf and realised there was nothing I fancied. I could,
of course, have popped down the library or down to the bookshop, but no, I
decided to jump into a life of hardship and write my own.
Is your book based on any real life experiences?
Of
course. In fact, Doodeedoo, the monster made out of socks and superglue went to
the same school as me. Unfortunately I lost contact with him shortly after year
six. I think he passed his eleven plus and went to grammar school, though I
can’t be sure.
What is the most challenging aspect of being a
writer?
I
don’t thing I find it a challenge really. Is it a challenge to sit down and
write down the weird things in my head? Is it a challenge to come up with
ideas? Not really.
I
know a lot of people struggle with rejection, bad reviews etc, but they don’t
really bother me. I know not everyone will like what I have done, but I do, so
there!
What are you reading right now?
I am
reading Elgon Williams – ‘Fried Windows – In A Light White Sauce’.
What’s
next?
I am
finishing up a poetry book which has been completely written by the pupils at the
school of two of my children. It is something we decided to do to raise money
for the school library.
Also,
finishing up the editing of my short story collection, ‘Driftwood From The
Specific’. This is a prime example of my not sticking to a particular genre. As
well as poetry, it contains horror, scifi, noir and general fiction.
Writing
wise, I am currently about 2000 words into my first full length adult novel.
Tell us a little about your book, and who it
would appeal to.
Doodeedoo
is based on the Frankenstein’s Monster story. Created by a tiny mouse with
terrific sewing skills, he is scared and lonely. When he goes missing, the
mouse has to search the house and find out why he ran away.
The
illustrations are by my super talented wife, Sammy.
I
have aimed the story at children the same ages as my own children, so anywhere
from 0 to 10.
Amazon
page - http://smarturl.it/TonyGilbert
Facebook
page - https://www.facebook.com/tonygilbertauthor
Blog
- http://tonygilbertauthor.weebly.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment