Q & A's

Latest Q & A's

Question:

Have you consciously set out to create female heroines like Lyra and Sally Lockhart? Have you found any difficulties as a male writer in creating young female characters?

Answer:

No. I write almost always in the third person, and I don't think the narrator is male or female anyway. They're both, and young and old, and wise and silly, and sceptical and credulous, and innocent and experienced, all at once. Narrators are not even human - they're sprites. So there are no limits, no areas, or characters, or sexes, or times, where these sprites can't go. And they fix on what interests them. I wouldn't dream of deliberately choosing this or that sort of person, for political or social or commercial reasons, to write a book about. If the narrator isn't interested, the book won't come alive.

Question:

Have you created any minor characters that you would like to explore in more depth in other stories?

Answer:

Yes, many times, and it's only lack of time that prevents me.

Question:

For somebody looking to get their stories for children published, is there any single piece of advice you would offer them?

Answer:

It's implicit in the answer above: write exactly what only you can write. Don't make commercial calculations. Be crazy about it. Insist on the primacy of your own vision. And please, don't ask me to read your manuscript.