A CONVERSATION WITH BRIAN JACQUES
What started you writing and when?
I have written for most of my life as a poet, songwriter, columnist
for a newspaper and playwright for theatre, radio and television.
My present writing form as author began when I had a desire to
write a story for the children of a local school for the blind,
The Royal Liverpool School in Wavertree, where I am a patron.
I wanted to write something visual that I could read to the children.
This was when I created the idea of Redwall Abbey in my imagination.
As I wrote, the idea grew, and the manuscript along with it. I
had no intention of sending the story for publication, but an
old friend of mine, a retired English teacher called Alan Durband,
read my manuscript and sent it off to a publisher without my knowledge.
Fortunately, the publishers liked it and I have never looked back
since.
What sort of books did you enjoy as a child and what do you like
to read now?
My childhood reading was mainly books given or recommended to
me by my father. He was a stern man and if he said "Read this son" I did not disobey. They were old fashioned romantic adventure
novels - Sir Henry Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World; Rafael Sabbatini's Scaramouche and many others. I also loved Homer's Illiad and Odyssey. In fact I saved my money and bought a magnificent leather bound
copy when I was eleven, it was a great favourite of mine. Kenneth
Grahame's The Wind in the Willows was a book that I read as a lad and still enjoy even now from
time to time.
Why do you write about animals?
Because they are more identifiable to young readers, more sympathetic
too. A dirty rat, a sly fox, a slippery snake, an heroic mouse,
a homely mouse, a friendly badger ... these are all prevalent
in the folk tales of Europe and they suit the medieval setting
well. The young reader is the young hero and the evil is savage,
reptilian and wild. There are no grey areas and it is clear who
is good and who is evil. I study small animals, they interest
and amuse me, and I like to imagine how they would talk and act.
How would you classify your books?
I do not like the term 'fantasy'. It smacks of swords and sorcery
and dungeons and dragons, and this is not at all the feeling of
my books. I like to think of my books as old fashioned adventures
that happened "Once upon a time, long ago and far away...
in fact,
good yarns is how I describe them.
What group do you think your books are suitable for?
I know my books are of interest to young people of between 9 and
15 years. However, I have many readers younger than 9 and considerably
many older. Many adults and parents who read aloud to their children
write to me. So shall we say from 7 to 70
How do you write?
Either with a pen and paper or on an old manual desk typewriter.
I write in my garden from May on through September when the British
weather is soft and gentle (if we are lucky). I love writing outdoors
surrounded by familiar things and my garden is the ideal place.
An indoor winter environment depresses my spirit as a storyteller.
I abhor modern technology and never use computers, electronic
typewriters or word processors. In short, I am an old fashioned
writer!
How long does it take to write a book?
For as long as it takes to tell the story. Usually about four
months.
You have a background encompassing many other jobs in the past.
How has being an author changed your life?
Very dramatically and for the better. I cannot imagine feeling
more fulfilled and happy than I am at present. I had to do all
those other jobs to earn my living, but I always moonlighted as
a singer, playwright, poet etc. My success as an author came when
I was older and wiser. I am a very happy man.
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