Hi Andy, welcome to the Teen Librarian Eight Questions With… interview! The first thing I usually ask is for interviewees to introduce themselves but I think that you are so well known that I will instead ask you to introduce LIQUIDATOR.
LIQUIDATOR unites a number of child-heroes: the weak, the strong, the dim, the brilliant…and I send them happily off on a week of work-experience. My characters soon go way beyond their placements, however, working to expose a multi-national corporation that’s threatening the world – and this isn’t 007 land, by the way, where the villains are psychopathic criminals. My villain is real. It’s developing a so-called health drink that will addict a new generation to sugars, steroids and caffeine: a performance enhancing health-drink with a billion-dollar marketing campaign, and a history of very dubious medical trials in the developing world – the stuff of fact, in other words.
The second question is… what would you do if you found out something bad… something really bad?
I’d walk away very quickly and pretend I hadn’t seen it. Sorry, but I’m a coward and I don’t like conflict.
Did you ever participate in a work experience scheme in school?
For some reason, no – I went to a grammar school in the seventies when all we did was learn by rote and sing ‘Jerusalem’. I used to supervise such weeks, when I was a teacher – and they were all too often a predictable disappointment, as kids returned to school having experienced only the stranglehold of insurance and safety concerns. I always hoped that one day, a would-be teenage surgeon would come rushing back to class, shouting “It was great! I cut someone open!” It never happened in life, so I’ve put into fiction.
What inspired the writing of LIQUIDATOR?
– see above. The thrill of the chase, too: I do love fast-moving, action packed adventures with real jeopardy.
Apart from LIQUIDATOR, what other works for young readers can you recommend?
I’m afraid I don’t read that much, for fear I’ll either be dismayed at its brilliance, or seduced into copying. I have a few ‘touchstone’ YA books, the main one of which is John Boyne’s THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS. If I get stuck, I read a chapter of that and it always unsticks me. Other than that, I am desperately traditional. I love the Moomins, for sheer surrealism.
What is your favourite part of the writing process?
First draft, for sure. It’s like playing with dolls: you get lost in the game as the dolls come to life and do things you never expected. Returning to the m/s for editing is good, too – and it’s lovely to share your work with agent and editor. But there’s nothing quite like the virgin sand of first draft.
With LIQUIDATOR only having just landed it may be a bit premature to ask this question, but I will ask it anyway. Do you have anything new planned that you can share with the audience?
I’m working on a film-script with Steve Coogan, and radio plays for Radio 4. The next children’s book is well underway, too – a bit of a departure. It’s about a dog with a crippling identity crisis.
Finally, do you ever visit schools or public libraries and if you do what is the best way to get into contact with you about organising a visit?
Yes, I try to say yes if I possibly can – and the best way to get something organised is through the excellent AUTHORS ALOUD – annemarley@authorsalouduk.co.uk
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions!
THANK YOU FOR ASKING! -ANDY
Liquidator by Andy Mulligan is published by David Fickling Books and is available on 1st October
My favourite character in Zeroes is Crash. She’s observant, thoughtful, basically good-hearted and trying really hard to be responsible. Her power is that she can sense any networked systems around her—any phones, computers, security systems, anything relying on a satellite, wifi, broadband or even a humble optical fibre cable. What’s bad about this power is that:
(a) It hurts to feel all these things—being in a big crowd is like being stung by a swarm of bees, with everyone’s phone’s attacking her, and places with big complex networks are torture for her
(b) If she doesn’t actually make an effort to keep these systems functioning, they crash—hence her code name. So she can do a lot of damage.
She’s also got a very strong moral sense. She’s caught between loving the cleansing relief of crashing things that have been bugging her, and trying to obey her Mom’s rule of Do no harm. She’s an interesting character!
On Collaboration
Compared to writing a novel by myself, I have to say, writing a three-author novel was a piece of cake. I was only technically writing a third of it, even though I still had to be fully engaged with Scott’s and Deborah’s chapters. We all read each other’s chapters, noting where things don’t chime with our own chapters, or where we feel our characters haven’t been done right. Pointing out the number of times Scott used the words “sparkling” or “sputtered”…
Generating the plot was so much easier than my usual method, where I spend months drawing plot maps that don’t work, and drafting screeds of material that never gets used. Not that we didn’t throw stuff away—sometimes our plot got superseded by something cooler. But it all happened so fast! And sitting around at Plot Camp making each other laugh with stupid plot ideas is the best fun. I can highly recommend collaboration.
Scott Westerfeld
Favourite Character
My favorite character is probably Scam. His power is “the voice,” which says whatever will get him what he wants. In a way, the voice reminds me of smart-talking detectives in the pulp era, who could disarm the bad guys just by saying the right thing, or convince the cops to let them go if they were found in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Alas for Scam, he’s not as cool as Sam Spade. Growing up with the voice on his side has left him not very proficient with words. He’s never had to learn! So he’s sort of like a kid who’s big brother always protected him, and has never fought his own battles.
On Collaboration
For me, collaborating is like going back in time. When I was a younger novelist, the bad days of writing were dark and horrible and full of despair. The good days were the most amazing I’ve ever had. That’s how things work when you’re new at something–the highs are very high, the lows disastrous.
But since then I’ve written twenty-something novels, and the lows aren’t really that bad anymore. I know from experience that I will get through this. Alas, this also means the highs aren’t as great. But writing with Deb and Margo has brought back those highs. There are sentences and scenes in this book that I never would have managed on my own. And the bad times? Well, let’s just say there are three times as many people to get annoyed with.
Deborah Biancotti
Favourite Character
My favourite character is Flicker, because she’s the one I can most imagine having lunch with. She seems like she’s the sanest and most well-grounded. Maybe it’s a result of having to—literally!—see through other people’s eyes. Despite being born blind, she can see—but only when there’s someone else nearby whose eyes are open.
Of course, every power has a price. Flicker can become overwhelmed by all the different viewpoints that she’s trying to parse in her head. Imagine trying to see a dozen things at once, or a dozen viewpoints on the same thing. And sometimes, she ends up seeing something she really, really doesn’t want to see.
On Collaboration
For me, collaborations are the way of the future. They’re like supercharged writing. TV writers learned this before novelists did. Collaboration lets you air your craziest, wildest ideas. It lets you short-circuit the plotting exercise. You can throw a half-baked idea at your team and then bounce it around between you until it becomes something great. Or you can have your idea shot down in flames within a matter of minutes. That happens.
The best part of the Zeroes collaboration has been what we call Plot Camps. We leave our ordinary lives and come together for three or four days of detailed planning. We work out what will happen and which character will be most affected, and whose point of view chapter this will be. It’s only when you’re back home, alone, trying to make your chapters fit the glamorous ideas of Plot Camp that the doubt begins to creep in. “Why did I agree to this?” and “Can I even pull this off?” are constant companions.
Remember when manga was on the cutting edge of library provision a few years ago? Heady times when it seemed like the easiest way to attract teens into libraries was to invest in a manga collection and run a manga art event*.
Oh sure there were the occasional blips, including parents discovering their children paging through shonen-ai** or even worse hentai, because library staff were not aware that not all manga is for young readers; and library borrowers having conniptions when encountering teens cosplaying a Death NoteShinigami*** but overall nothing too major.
In the drk ages of 2006 the September edition Teen Librarian Monthly was a Manga Special, designed to introduce librarians to manga. You can read a copy here: TLM: Manga
I also wrote an article for the Public Library journal, which is readable here: Turning Japanese. I will just say that I was not responsible for the article title.
It all seemed so easy with publishers like Tokyopop running regular ReCon events around the country and of course manga and cosplay still had an aura of underground cool. Then Tokyopop imploded, Tanoshimi disappeared and for a long while there seemed to be fewer titles available.
Even worse**** happened, manga went mainstream and nowadays everyone and their gran seems to know what cosplay is, and a lot of them attend conventions together, dressed up as their favourite characters.
Even though manga appears ubiquitous, sometimes guidance is required by those that feel that they do not know enough to make safe choices when it comes to stock; so I have decided to put together a list of recommendations suitable for teen readers (13+).
An important thing to remember is that popular manga series can extend to many volumes, Naruto, for example, ran to 72 volumes and One Piece is currently on 79.
Some of these titles are well-known, others less so
Assassination Classroom – Yusei Matsui
Attack on Titan – Hajime Isayama
Animal Land – Makoto Raiku
Black Butler – Yana Toboso
Bleach – Tite Kubo
Cirque du Freak – Darren Shan, Takahiro Arai
Death Note – Tsugumi Obha
Fairy Tale – Hiro Mashima
Fullmetal Alchemist – Hiromu Arakawa
Gon – Masashi Tanaka
I am Here – Ema Toyama
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure – Hirohiko Araki
Kitchen Princess – Miyuki Kobayashi
The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya – Puyo
Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations – Kenji Kuroda
Monster Hunter Orage – Hiro Mashima
Monster Soul – Hiro Mashima
Musishi – Hiro Mashima
My Hero Academia – Kouhei Horikoshi
My Little Monster – Robico
Naruto – Masashi Kishimoto
Nausicaa – Hayao Miyazaki
No.6 – Atsuko Asano
One Piece – Eiichiro Oda
One Punch Man – ONE
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Kenji Kuroda
Read Or Die – Hideyuki Kurata
Shaman King – Hiroyuki Takei
Shugo Chara – Peach Pit
Shugo Chara Chan – Peach Pit
A Silent Voice – Yoshitoki Oima
Tegami Bachi – Hiroyuki Asada
Tokyo Ghoul – Sui Ishida
Tokyo MewMew – Reiko Yoshida, Mia Ikumi
Tsubasa – CLAMP
World Trigger – Daisuke Asihara
Your Lie in April – Naoshi Arakawa
Yu-Gi-Oh! – Kazuki Takahashi
Hi Chris, welcome to TeenLibrarian for the Pocket Pirates Q&A!
As is traditional I usually ask first time visitors to the site to introduce themselves to the audience, so can you please let us know something about you?
Hi Matt, yes of course. I’m an illustrator at heart and have been for over twenty years.
I began to write to create narrative content that made sense of the worlds and characters growing out of my sketchbook and from there, I began to write ‘in real life.’ Proof that anybody can do it if they really want to. Without giving too many spoilers can you tell us something about the Pocket Pirates?
The home of the pocket pirates is one of miniature people in a human sized environment. So whether it’s being stuck inside an old teapot, having to climb a stack of old books just to get back home, being harassed by a swarm of huge flies or trying to retrieve a stash of biscuit crumbs, the world is a tricky place when you’re only an inch high, even for a brave buccaneer. But the biggest danger comes from the mice beyond the skirting board and the eight legged menace in the tangled web up above. Look out, the enemy are hungry. It’s dangerous out there in the Old Junk Shop.
How did you come up with the idea of daring pirates living in a bottle ship?
To be honest I was ready to have a rest from Buccaneers. They’re such a terrible lot. I was having a holiday and I spotted a ship in a bottle as I walked round an old shop. I was always a huge Borrowers and Old Mrs Pepperpot fan and I just thought to myself, ‘aha, tiny pirates would live in there.’ And the Pocket Pirates were born. It allowed me to look at pirates in a different way. They were land lubbers and they were little! What could be more fun?
Considering that they were basically muggers of the sea and worse back in the day (and still are in some parts of the world) why do you think that Pirates seem to be enduringly popular?
I don’t think it’s the habits of the pirate that people find endearing. There are endless pirate publications for children but most of them avoid any serious reference to cut throat lifestyles. I think it’s the period costume and the on board environment they live in that has timeless appeal for illustrators and authors. It’s a very well-trodden path I know. But creating character and narrative has a lot to do with visual appeal. What can be more fun than big pirate hats, striped socks, skulls and crossbones, frilly shirts, huge sleeved coats and a huge rickety old timber house that moves from place to place? And of course, your average pirate is a cheeky scallywag and we all love a mischievous rogue who can mix it up a bit.
I have seen your name popping up a lot on twitter, most recently next to a map for Matt Haig’s Christmas book – where else can we find your artwork gracing other author’s words?
Ah yes, drawing pine trees and snowy landscapes in the middle of August was a good way to keep me cool this year (as well as living in the UK 😉 I’ve also been working with the hilariously funny Barry Hutchison on the Benjamin Blank fiction series for Nosy Crow. Tremendously chucklesome fun. Very funny writer.
Returning to things piratical, can you recommend books about pirates by other authors?
You mean the pirate enemy? On the other ship?? Of course not! Buy a copy of Pocket Pirates, and nothing else.
Oh go on then, if I must. Make sure you’ve seen Chris Riddell’s beautifully drawn Pirate Diary. And Shipmate Johnny Duddle is always a pirate winner. His new black and white pirate fiction is genius. And don’t miss the Jim Ladd and Benji Davies Space Pirates series from Nosy Crow. I could go on….
Who is your favourite fictional freebooter? and do you have any favourite non-fiction pirates?
Fiction: Ah I always come back to ‘Silver’. He’s THE BEST. Treasure Island is a text I can read over and over again. And I have to be staring at the Ralph Steadman version.
Non Fiction: I can’t favourite any of the real ones. They’re all bad uns and I’d lock em all up.
What is coming next for the Pocket Pirates?
In the next book the hungry Buccaneers dare to venture outside when their food supplies get low. I won’t give much away but when it rains and they are washed into a storm drain, the rain soaked fun begins.
To inject a bit of levity in to the serious subject of swashbucklers, do you have a favourite pirate joke, and can you share it?
Oh….. And my pirate joke…..
Errrrr…….
Why does it take a pirate so long to learn the alphabet?
Because he spends years at C!
Thank you so much for giving up your time to drop by and answer some questions!
Thank you Matt. Your support is hugely appreciated.
Kids like writing, but all too often the joy of it gets lost in the mountains of school and home work. Let a child write about something they’re interested in, something meaningful, and the difference will be huge. I discovered this recently in a letter writing lesson. My pupils were required to write an imaginary letter to someone. The results were a little dull. Soon after, however, I arranged a class pen pal swap with a school in America. Once the kids had real pen pals to write to, their writing became alive with personality and enthusiasm.
They say the early childhood years are the formative years of any person’s life, but is it really true? In my case – yes, and here’s the proof. When I was a kid, I wrote two books – one called ‘The Magic Sword’ and one called ‘The Samurai’. Thirty years later, my first novel is published and guess what it’s about? Magic swords and samurai! It’s about other things too, but the influence of my childhood writing cannot be ignored. Writing a book as a child allowed me to experience the thrill of creating new worlds and characters, as well as the thrill of seeing somebody else read about them. Perhaps if I hadn’t written those books as a child, I’d never have become an author as an adult.
So when I became a teacher I decided to give other kids the opportunity to write a book, in the hope that it might influence their adult life. I started writing books with children in the pre-digital age, so we wrote and illustrated stories on sheets of paper and then stapled them together.
We then got involved with the ‘Write a Book’ scheme which was being run by education centres around the country. As part of this initiative, my pupils each wrote a book and then sent them off to be read and reviewed by other pupils. In return, we received a similar box of books. It was a fantastic scheme.
When computers came into the classroom, they took my book project to the next level. No longer did the child with the messy writing have to feel self-conscious about their handwriting. The printed word became the great leveller in the classroom. Sure, after reading the books, you could still tell which were better than others, but not anymore could you make this decision at first glance.
The printed word made the books feel more like real books. But with staples and sellotape for binding, they were still a long way off being the real deal. Then along came the internet, and following closely behind it, Print-On-Demand (POD) publishers.
So here’s what my pupils do now: they spend the first term of school preparing for the biggest writing project of their lives by doing all the regular stuff kids do in classrooms across the world. But this time, with a difference. Because now the ‘pointless’ writing activities are no longer pointless, but are training for the book they will write after Christmas.
After having plenty of writing practice in different genres in both fiction and non-fiction, they decide what their book will be about. They spend their Christmas holidays thinking about it, and then return to school in January fired up and ready to start. Free software is downloaded onto the school PCs and pupils spend the next three months writing, drafting, editing and typing their stories. They then illustrate their books with their own artwork or photos. Each book is then uploaded to the POD publisher’s server in America, before being printed in the Netherlands. Once the child’s book is posted, we track the package across Europe until it arrives at the classroom door. Nothing beats the excitement of opening that parcel with your own printed book inside.
Once all the books arrive at the school, we put away all class readers and use the pupils’ books as class reading material. Pupils read, comment on, and answer questions about each other’s books. Probably the only thing that beats writing your own book is seeing somebody else read and enjoy what you’ve written.
At the end of the year, when copies are thrown in the bin, and textbooks are discarded, these books are carefully brought home and proudly displayed on bookshelves for grandparents, uncles and aunties to see. And long after we’re all gone, some of these treasures will still survive, and hopefully will be picked up by some curious reader in the distant future.
My childhood creation led to what is now a passion in my adult life. I’m hoping it will do the same for some of my pupils.
The Black Lotus by Kieran Fanning published by Chicken House.
Alchemy… the occult science devoted to matter transmutation, best known for the search for eternal life and the quest to turn lead into gold.
Now two authors, CJ Daugherty and Carina Rozenfeld have combined their talents and turned mere ink and paper into literary gold with their new book The Secret Fire.
The power of two does not end there today two blogs have two interviews about the creation of the novel. Read the interviews below in French and then follow the link to the English interviews at La Voix du Livre
I interviewed Carina Rozenfeld and my blog twin Tom of La Voix du Livre interviewed CJ Daugherty.
Bonjour Carina, bienvenue à l’interview The Secret Fire pour Teen Librarian et La Voix du Livre ! Mon binôme blogueur Tom a interviewé CJ donc tu es mienne pour toute la durée de cette interview (insérer une voix menaçante). Je te présente mes excuses pour mes lacunes en français et j’espère que les poser en Anglais ne posera pas de problème. Ma première question que je pose à tous les auteurs que j’interviewe pour le blog est de les inviter à se présenter aux lecteurs, peux-tu s’il te plaît nous dire quelques informations sur toi ?
Quelque chose à mon propos ? Alors, je suis une écrivaine française. J’ai écrit environ 20 livres en France, pour les enfants, les adolescents et les jeunes adultes. Je suis aussi la mère d’un adolescent qui étudie les arts appliqués. Je vis à Paris avec lui et mes chats, pas très loin de la Tour Eiffel…
Est-ce que The Secret Fire est ton premier roman à quatre mains ?
Oui, c’est la première fois que j’écris un roman avec quelqu’un d’autre. J’ai écrit environ 20 livres seule et c’est un beau changement et une super expérience de pouvoir explorer d’autres façons d’écrire.
Comment c’était de travailler avec CJ ? Quels ont été les plus grands challenges auxquels tu as dû faire face dans ce travail collaboratif ?
Travailler avec CJ, c’est génial, drôle et facile. Ça aurait pu être vraiment difficile, mais à la fin, on a trouvé une façon d’écrire ensemble qui a parfaitement fonctionné. La partie la plus difficile a été la langue, sans aucun doute. C’est déjà difficile de trouver sa propre voix, sa propre façon décrire dans sa langue natale, alors vous pouvez imaginer comment ça a été difficile en Anglais ! Mais CJ m’a beaucoup aidé. Merci à elle !
Quelle a été la meilleure partie de cette expérience d’écriture pour toi ?
J’adore (j’utilise le présent car on est en train d’écrire le tome 2 en ce moment même) qu’on puisse échanger nos idées. Et j’adore attendre les chapitres qu’elle m’envoie, car je suis alors à la place du lecteur, puis prendre celle de l’écrivain pour lui permettre d’être la lectrice. C’est très motivant.
Est-ce que vous avez établi un plan scénaristique, une frise chronologie, pour être sûr que vos personnages restaient sur la bonne voie tout au long de l’histoire ?
Pas vraiment. Dans le premier livre j’ai écrit les chapitres sur Sacha, et CJ ceux sur Taylor, alors on savait toujours où les personnages en étaient dans l’histoire. Mais de temps en temps on décidait ensemble ce qui allait se passer dans les chapitres suivants.
Comment avez-vous séparé les scènes d’écriture ? Je suppose que tu as écrit celles sur Sacha et CJ a travaillé sur Taylor (ou je me trompe ?) Mais quand ils se rencontrent, comment avez-vous fonctionné ?
Oui, j’ai écrit les parties sur Sacha et CJ celles sur Taylor. Quand ils sont ensemble ou discutent ensemble, alors, quand c’était mon chapitre par exemple, CJ était libre de changer des choses, pour aller plus dans la profondeur de la pensée de Taylor, pour être plus proche de son personnage, et inversement.
J’ai un peu honte de dire que j’ai une connaissance très limitée des livres non-anglophones en YA ; peux-tu nous recommander quelques auteurs européens de YA que tu aimes ?
Je ne suis pas surprise. La plupart des écrivains français ne sont pas traduits en anglais, alors n’ayez pas honte. C’est vraiment dommage parce qu’il y a beaucoup d’écrivains européens particulièrement bons. Je pense à Charlotte Bousquet, Samantha Bailly, Yves Grevet, Christophe Lambert, Victor Dixen qui sont français et Cindy Van Wilder qui est belge. Je pourrais encore en mentionner beaucoup. La littérature française est pleine de trésors.
Qu’est-ce que ce travail t’a apporté dans ta vie personnelle et dans ta vie professionnelle ?
C’est une expérience incroyable. Dans ma vie personne, j’ai une nouvelle amitié avec CJ et j’ai réalisé un rêve, celui de publier un livre en anglais, parce que mon frère vit en Amérique et ma belle-sœur et toute sa famille sont américains. Je suis ravie de savoir qu’ils vont finalement pouvoir lire un de mes livres. Dans ma vie professionnelle, je peux maintenant savoir ce que c’est d’être un auteur « anglais ». Les choses ne sont pas les mêmes : sa façon de travailler avec son editor/publisher (Ndt : en anglais, le mot n’est pas le même. L’editor est celui qui s’occupe du travail éditorial tandis que le publisher est celui qui publie le livre – c’est un poste plus logistique et directorial), la façon dont son livre voyage dans le monde parce qu’il est en anglais.
Est-ce que The Secret Fire est ton premier livre disponible en anglais ?
Oui, et j’ai beaucoup d’optimisme sur la suite, quelques éditeurs anglais seront peut-être intéressés de traduire mes autres livres après celui-ci !
Quelques uns de mes éditeurs français sont en relation avec mon éditeur anglais Atom Books. Peut-être que quelque chose se passera un jour ?
J’ai eu une longue période d’intérêt en l’alchimie durant mes penchants gothiques adolescents, alors j’aurais aimé savoir si vous avez fait des recherches sur l’alchimie pour cette histoire ?
La plupart des recherches ont été faites par CJ, parce que son personnage est plus concerné par l’alchimie. Mais j’ai lu quelques choses sur ce sujet.
Vous avez décidé d’écrire une histoire fantastique. Pourquoi cela était-il important pour vous ?
La plupart de mes romans ont une trame fantastique. Alors j’était familière de ce genre. CJ, elle, voulait faire une histoire plus fantastique et paranormale que Night School donc ce genre nous est venu assez naturellement.
Crois-tu que les alchimistes peuvent vraiment transformer des matières en une autre forme ?
En fait, en un sens, ne sommes-nous pas des alchimistes quand nous allumons la lumière dans nos maisons ? On transforme quelque chose, de l’énergie, de l’électricité, en lumière…
Que penses-tu de la magie ?
J’adore les bonnes histoires avec quelque chose de magique dans celles-ci. Et quand je vois un magicien, je suis toujours étonnée par ce qu’ils sont capables de faire, et je veux croire que c’est possible ! Peut-être que c’est pour ça que j’écris des histoires avec tant de fantastique : j’aimerais que tout cela comme la magie, les extraterrestres, avoir des ailes, être le Phénix puisse vraiment exister…
Si tu étais alchimiste, que ferais-tu de tes capacités ?
M’aider à travailler plus vite ? Trouver un moyen de voyager super vite, comme la téléportation ? Sentir le monde autour de moi de façon plus forte ?
Penses-tu que le réalisme magique de votre histoire peut aider le lecteur à considérer les vrais problèmes auquel un jeune adulte est confronté dans notre monde ?
Je lis beaucoup de YA et je pense que dans tous les livres, peu importe le genre (fantasy, paranormal, SF, réalisme…), on a toujours une certaine résonnance avec les problèmes des jeunes adultes : devenir un adulte avec des responsabilités, choisir quel genre d’adulte on aimerait devenir. La relation au monde, aux autres, aux parents, les capacités qu’on a pour construire la personne qu’on va devenir, comment faire face aux changements auxquels on va être confrontés, la réalité de la vie et de la mort…
Peux-tu nous donner quelques informations sur le tome 2 ?
Je n’en suis pas sûre… Mais peut-être que je peux vous dire que vous allez en apprendre plus sur les alchimistes, et que vous allez rencontrer des créatures encore plus terrifiantes.
Merci beaucoup d’avoir répondu à cette interview !
Bonjour CJ, bienvenue sur La Voix du Livre pour l’interview sur The Secret Fire ! Mon binôme blogueur Matt a interviewé Carina (nous échangeons nos auteurs locaux) !
Est-ce que tu peux nous dévoiler quelque chose à propos de toi ?
Je suis une ancienne journaliste qui travaillait sur des meurtres et aujourd’hui j’écris des romans !
Est-ce que The Secret Fire est le premier roman que tu as écrit à quatre mains ?
Oui, j’ai écrit seule tous mes autres romans.
Comment c’était de travailler avec Carina ? Quels étaient les plus gros challenges ? Et quel a été le meilleur moment de cette expérience littéraire ?
C’était vraiment génial ! On se motivait mutuellement. Quand on a commencé à travailler sur The Secret Fire, on l’appelait « Le livre aux deux cerveaux ». On a décidé qu’il serait deux fois mieux que n’importe quel livre qu’on a écrits chacune de notre côté.
Ce qui a été le plus compliqué a été de décider comment nous allions procéder. Est-ce que nous devrions Skyper tous les jours ? Est-ce que nous devrions partager toutes nos idées avant de les écrire ? Mais finalement nous avons mis en place un système de chapitres alternés, et ça s’est bien mis en place.
Est-ce que vous aviez prévu ensemble la chronologie de l’histoire pour être sures que vos personnages restent sur la bonne voie durant tout le roman ?
Non, pas au début. On écrivait simplement les chapitres comme ils venaient. Mais quand l’intrigue s’est vraiment développée, c’est devenu nécessaire d’organiser la suite. Nous avons donc décidé ensemble de ce qui allait arriver et nous avons ensuite écrit le reste de nos chapitres. Et pour le second tome, nous avons un synopsis détaillé et nous essayons plus ou moins d’y rester fidèles.
Qu’est-ce que ce travail vous a apporté, dans votre vie professionnelle mais aussi personnelle ?
Ca a supprimé la solitude du travail d’écriture. J’avais un retour immédiat sur mon travail. J’envoyais un chapitre à Carina dans la matinée et elle me répondait le plus souvent dans les heures qui suivaient. Et j’adorais lire ses chapitres, c’était comme avoir un petit cadeau chaque jour.
Est-ce que vous avez dû effectuer beaucoup de recherche sur l’alchimie ?
ENORMEMENT. J’ai lu des traductions de livres d’alchimie du XVe siècle et j’ai étudié les inventions et l’imaginaire de l’alchimie. Et le titre de notre roman est emprunté à un célèbre texte du XVIe siècle sur l’alchimie.
Pourquoi est-ce que c’était important pour vous de créer une intrigue fantastique ?
Je n’avais jamais écrit de fantasy avant et j’avais envie de voir tout ce qu’on peut faire quand les lois de la physique ne s’appliquent plus à vos personnages et que vous pouvez aller au-delà des limites. Lorsque nous écrivons de la fantasy, nous ne somment pas limités.
Est-ce que vous croyez que les alchimistes pouvaient transformer une substance en une autre ?
C’est ce que nous faisons toute le temps à notre époque. Nous transformons le fer ou le minerai en acier, le plastique en tissus.
Et le plastic vient du pétrole. Quand on assemble deux molécules, on peut créer quelque chose de complètement différent. Associe le sodium et le chlorure, tu crées du sel de table. Notre monde est plein de transformations et les alchimistes étaient juste en avance sur leur temps. Après tout, l’alchimie c’est 90% de la science et seulement 10% de magie. Et est-ce que tu ne crois pas aux 10% de magie ?
Quel est ton point de vue sur la magie ?
J’aimerais être une sorcière, est-ce que c’est trop demander ?
Si tu avais des compétences en alchimie, qu’est-ce que tu aimerais faire ?
J’aimerais faire de belles choses, rendre les gens heureux, donner à mes amis tout ce qu’ils veulent. Et aussi, agrandir ma maison.
Est-ce que tu penses que le mélange de magie et de réalisme de votre roman peut aider les lecteurs à voir les problèmes réels auxquels les jeunes adultes sont confrontés dans le monde ?
Dans le roman, Sacha meurt alors qu’il vient juste d’avoir 18 ans. Je pense qu’il est juste de dire que quand on est jeunes, les 18 ans peuvent symboliser la fin de la jeunesse et le début intimidant d’une vie d’adulte. Ce livre parle du désir de survire à 18 ans et montre les incroyables possibilités qu’apporte le futur. Ce livre montre également à quel point la science peut être géniale. Donc, je contribue à ma manière pour éduquer les jeunes ?
Est-ce que vous avez le droit de nous donner quelques indices sur le deuxième tome ?
Le tome 2 commence trois semaines avant les 18 ans de Sacha. Ils sont sur le point de découvrir qui est le Dark practitioner et pourquoi il est passé de l’alchimie à la démonologie. Le temps file mais Taylor devient plus fort.
Est-ce que tu peux nous dire quels autres auteurs français et anglais de YA tu apprécies ?
Evidemment, je recommande tous les livres de Carina Rozenfeld, en particulier Phaenix, elle est une auteure formidable !
J’adore également Cindy Van Wilder, qui est belge mais qui écrit en français. Elle a par exemple écrit Les Héritiers et La reine des neiges.
Et dans les auteurs anglais ou américains, j’adore Holly Bourne (Am I Normal Yet ?), Mel Salisbury (The Sin Eater’s Daughter) et Cassandre Clare (The Mortal Instruments) et plein d’autres encore !
All my thanks go to Tom & his girlfriend for the rapid translation of these interviews from English into French!
Writing is akin to alchemy – taking the magic of ideas and by pinning them down on paper with ink making them real.
CJ is a fantastic author – I have read and loved her Night School series, Carina is a new author to me but has had over a dozen books published in France – none of which are currently available in English!
After having read The Secret Fire I have seriously started thinking about learning French just so I could read her earlier works!
The initial review I wrote made use of so many hackneyed phrases that I deleted it and started again.
Then I thought, just because the words get used so often does not make them untrue!
So yes…
The Secret Firehas no holds barred
and indeed is a thrill a minute
My heart did leap into my throat (that one scene with Sacha and Antoine on the top of the building in chapter 2 did it)
It also include ancient organisations dedicated to fighting evil, at least one evil organisation dedicated to revenge at all costs.
The Secret Fire is brilliant! It is a pure old-school thriller with paranormal aspects woven in so subtly that they are accepted almost without notice. At no times does the sense of danger and mystery seem forced!
I have seen a number of YA thrillers coming out this year and by all means you should read those – but if you listen to one bit of advice I give (and really you should listen to most of my advice – especially about libraries) then read this book!
Go to your library either the one at school* or your public library and request it if it is not already on the shelves or you can even buy a copy yourself. It is not just a thrilling book it is also a beautiful work of art that will complement your shelves wonderfully.
*if your school does not have a library or librarian then organise a protest about that and do the same if your local library is under threat of closure – this advice you should take!
I was introduced to the James Bond novels after seeing the film Live and Let Die while visiting my cousins and then discovering the novel at my local Library.
I read the books out of order over the course of two or three years and was dismayed to find that Ian Fleming had died and there would be no more. Then one holiday I discovered Colonel Sun by Robert Markham – a new James Bond adventure, I enjoyed it and even after reading a number of other books by famous authors it remained my favourite non-Fleming Bond novel.
The stories that came after were not bad, they were just not (for me) ‘real’ Bond stories. The James Bond I had come to enjoy was a creature of the cold war, a damaged, driven man who can and does do questionable things for his country; a hero only by virtue of his foes being worse than he is.
I was fortunate to win a signed, early proof of Trigger Mortis on twitter, a book by Anthony Horowitz – a writer whose works I love in print and on television.
When I started reading Trigger Mortis my love of James Bond was reawakened, Anthony Horowitz’s writing mirrored Ian Fleming’s style so closely that at times it felt that I was reading his words – and for a part of the story I was. Trigger Mortis is the first Bond novel by another author to include original material by Ian Fleming.
Trigger Mortis is a direct sequel to Goldfinger and brings back one of the most iconic Bond girls – Pussy Galore. It also examines James personality, foibles and looks at why none of his relationships ever last.
I devoured it over the course of three evenings, it has been one of the hardest books to put down drawing me in with nazi rocket science, murder, a nightmare dash around the Nürburgring and an obligatory scenery chewing supervillain aiming at disrupting the US space programme. Oh yes and there is Jeopardy Lane an awesome female agent who is more than a match for our Mr Bond.
It is a phenomenal nerve-wracking read – pure classic Bond. In my mind’s eye the only way I can see Anthony Horowitz channelling Fleming’s voice so wonderfully was by snorting a line of Fleming’s ashes to contact the man and then hallucinating James Bond standing behind him with gun drawn so that he gets it right.
He got it right!
Trigger Mortis is the best Bond novel for decades, even beating out some of my Fleming favourites!
It is now my fondest wish that if and when the time is right that Horowitz writes more Bond! Hopefully he will also include a cameo by a certain famous teenage spy!
