What inspires you to be an author and illustrator?
It may seem completely frivolous, but I’m usually inspired to make a book because of things I want to draw or paint. My award-winning part-novel part-comic Monkey Boy came about because I wanted to draw comics of ghastly ghouls and old fashioned warships, so I had to write a story to go with it. Similarly, I wrote and illustrated my Flying Furballs series because I thought it would be fun to draw pictures of pussycats in planes in Paris — and it is! I’m inspired by historic settings and fashions, which has led to my biographies of Mozart and Shakespeare. I just really love painting all those fabulous clothes and buildings.
How do you know your book is finished? How do you stop adding and changing words?
With subjects like Mozart and Shakespeare, you could spend a whole lifetime and still not be finished. My biography of Mozart took 6 years and Much Ado About Shakespeare took me 10 years. Both books had to be finished by a set deadline because they were being published for significant anniversaries. Sometimes, I don’t know what I’m doing when I start a book, but I at some point my paintings will look just like the pictures in my head and I can say “Ah ha, that’s it!”. These days I have lots of deadlines from my publishers, which is lucky, otherwise I think I would keep tinkering forever.
How hard is it to think of new ideas?
When I first started it was very difficult. Every book I completed I would think, “I’ll never have another good idea.” Over the years I have filled lots of notebooks with ideas. Many of them would be superb books and I’ve now got enough to last a lifetime. The funny thing is, I’ll probably never go back any of those ideas in my notebooks. That’s the thing with creativity and inspiration — the more you do, the more you get inspired. It’s like a big washing machine of ideas constantly tumbling around in my head. Now I have ideas that just pop out when I wasn’t even needing them. That’s exactly how my Flying Furballs series came about — the hard part was finding time amongst all the other books to get it done!
Who is your favourite character?
There are two I love the most and they are both Roald Dahl characters — Matilda and Danny Champion of the World. Both are lovely endearing kids who are a little bit rebellious, yet honourable and very humble. For the same reason I love Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird and Rudy from The Book Thief. The greatest compliment I can give is that I wish I’d written those characters. A writer has to like their own characters too, otherwise writing would be horrible. Characters take on a life of their own and I want to know what happens to characters in my Flying Furballs series like Liberty Bell (who is based on Jean Batten) and The Red Setter (who is based on Ernst Udet, an honourable German pilot from World War One). Great characters draw you back to writing, because you want to visit them again and again. Hopefully readers do too.
If you were not an author illustrator what would you have been?
When I left university, I wanted to be a film maker and I worked for a while as a storyboard artist. It’s very similar to making picture books, because you write a story and then make some pictures to go with it. I decided I wanted to make picture books because I can have a lot more control over the final result.
Where do you write and illustrate?
I have a beautiful studio in my back yard where I do most of my work. I do a normal 8 to 5 day, but there’s never enough time to get all my work done. I’m usually working on several books at once — doing research and writing for one, rough sketches for another, final paintings and design for yet another — so I do most of my illustrating in my studio. Then, when I go home, I’m researching my next book or scribbling out a story in one of my many notebooks.
What was your favourite book as a child?
My favourite picture book was The Lorax, by Dr Seuss. It’s still one of my favourites today, because the pictures and words are so colourful and energetic and the message is even more relevant now than when it was written almost 50 years ago. When I was 7 my mother read me The Lord of the Rings, which was an amazing inspiration for a young illustrator and storyteller. I read it again every year, for many years after, and I was always drawing pictures of the cool characters and monsters.
How do you come up with character names/character design?
Mostly I have a vision in my head of what a book will look like. I see it almost like a movie — but an out of focus movie. I do lots and lots of scribbles, trying different ideas and styles. Eventually I’ll draw something, and suddenly that movie in my head will become clear and I know I’ve got the right look. Names for characters come from strange places, sometimes they are names of famous people I admire, like Captain Hilary in Monkey Boy, or in Flying Furballs, many of the characters are based on real pets. I thought it would be funny if they had silly pet names like General Fluffington and Mrs Cushion, instead of being called John and Jane.
Did you like writing and drawing as a kid? Were you good at writing and drawing at school?
I was always good at drawing, and pictures of trucks were a great way to get the school bully on side — funnily enough I really hate drawing trucks now! My mother was a high school librarian and teacher, and when I was at primary school, she would get me to draw pictures for her class notes. I liked drawing comic strips of my classmates and making fun of the teachers. I lived in Indonesia for a while and I make a big comic book diary of our time there.
Can you make a lot of money from writing or do you need another job too?
I set out to become a full time author and illustrator 20 years ago. I had no idea how I was going to do it, I just knew that it was going to take a long time — and it did! I had my own business as a graphic designer, and every year I would do a little less design and a little more books. It took me about 13 years until I could afford to write and illustrate books full time. It’s a tremendous amount of work that is always in your head, and you never know whether all that work is going to earn you any money. You may be the next J. K. Rowling or a total flop. I still wonder sometimes if I shouldn’t go and get a real job. It’s reassuring to know that even great writers like Stephen King felt they should have a “real job” too.
When did you start illustrating or writing? One of the earliest pictures my parents have of me, is of me drawing a dinosaur. I was only three, and I must have been using up too much paper because they’d bought me a special sit-down blackboard table. I started writing stories to go with my pictures and when I was 8, I wrote a sequel to The Lord of the Rings. It was only a few pages long, but it was my first attempt to write a story. I tried to use Tolkien’s style to write my own adventure.
Do you have any exciting projects planned for the future?
I’m always working on several books at once. I’ve just finished a book on the famous composer Mozart. I’ve also illustrated a fun book about the America’s Cup, written by Jay Laga’aia. After that I’m working on the next few books in my Flying Furballs chapter book series — there’s more adventures in Paris and Russia. I’m planning an illustrated biography of Leonardo da Vinci, which will take me a few years to complete.
What do you do in your spare time?
I love music, and I play saxophone in a big band. Playing music is very technical and uses a lot of brain power, so it’s really stimulating. At the same time music is also like meditation, because you can’t think about anything else while you’re playing. It’s a great way to have a break, otherwise I’d just be thinking about books ALL the time. I’m also the singer for a 13 piece funk and jazz band, and that’s a lot of fun too.