Interview With Author, Angela Fish
Today, I’m delighted to be
chatting to author, Angela Fish. Her debut children’s book, 'Ben and the Spider
Gate' will be published on Thursday, 24th September.
Angela, welcome. Please introduce yourself and tell
us a little about how you got started as a writer.
Hello Jan.
Thank you for inviting me to share your page today.
I was born in Cardiff and grew up in a
village called Tongwynlais. My mother read to me a lot when I was little and I
was reading simple text myself by the time I was four. I’ve never lost my love
of reading and can be quite greedy with it! I remember writing simple poems and
stories, and even plays, from the age of seven. Later on, most of my creative
energy went into English essays and it wasn’t until I started an Humanities
degree that I had any formal creative writing experience. I focused mainly on
poetry at that time and my dissertation was a collection of poems with
commentary. After that I did an M.Phil (Literature) but that was a research
project, rather than my own writing. I went on some residential writing
courses, mostly for poetry, and published some in journals. I was also placed
second in a magazine short story competition, but then I started lecturing at
my local university and work, and academic writing, took over. It wasn’t until
I took early retirement and joined a writing group that I started writing again
with any real purpose. Since then I’ve had a highly commended and a second
place in Writer’s Forum magazine poetry competitions, written five books for
children (one published, one in production and one needing final editing),
begun two more, and have two adult novels partly written. It’s been quite a
productive time but I don’t think that I would have done half (if any) of it
without the support and encouragement of the writing group, and then the
writing circle that I’ve been involved with.
Writing for children is in such contrast to your previous
work. Can you tell us what inspired you to write this first novel for children?
As I
mentioned, I was part of a writing group and we were experimenting with
different genres – stretching ourselves really, as it’s easy to become stuck in
the same groove. We agreed to try writing for children and I completed two
shorter (picture) books –one non-fiction and one fiction. Then we used story
cubes (dice) as prompts for character and plot for the first chapter of a
longer piece of work. The two images that came up were an open padlock and a
triangle shape, but with wiggly lines rather than straight ones. Most of the
group interpreted the shape as a pyramid or a tent but it immediately reminded
me of a doodle that I’ve been drawing on the corners of pages since I was a
teenager. It’s a partial cobweb with a spider dangling from it.
Once that
thought had come into my head, I couldn’t shift it and so the basis of the
story line developed. The padlock gave rise to the spider’s name (Lox) but also
to the idea of his role as gate-keeper to the spider kingdom. The plot uses the
traditional motif of a quest, but with a twist. I completed the first chapter
and as I had such positive feedback from the group, I decided to finish it. Considering
that I spent the last ten years of my working life in the intergenerational
field, it’s not surprising that the main character, Ben, and his grandmother
have such a close relationship, but this evolved as I was writing the book – it
wasn’t a specific intention when I began.
When you embarked on ‘Ben and the Spider Gate’, did you envisage that there would be
more books in the series?
When I was
about three quarters of the way through the first draft of ‘Ben and the Spider Gate’ I knew that there was a lot more that I
could, and wanted, to do with the characters and situations, but the general
advice for the book length (aimed at the 5-8 age group) is to have about 10,000
words. That’s when I decided to have a short series, of three, that would
follow Ben and Lox’s adventures over one year. By the time I finished the
first, I already knew the basic story outline for the second one, ‘Ben and the Spider Prince’ (due April
2016) but I wasn’t sure about the third. ‘Ben
and the Spider Lake’ (due Nov 2016) developed from a series of unrelated
incidents – Welsh Water digging up the road in front of our house, a
programme about hidden lakes, and another about mass migration!
I wanted each
story to stand alone, so I’ve allowed Ben to recap some of the previous
adventures, either by remembering or by talking to his gran or his best friend,
Jess, so that the relationship between Lox and Ben is explained. However, I’ve
tried to be careful not to repeat too much as it can irritate the reader if
they’ve read the previous book(s), spoil it if they haven’t, and it also runs
away with the word count!
So that means we'll follow the same characters in
each of the books. I think young readers like that, don't they?
Yes. Ben, Jess, Gran, Scoot the dog, and Lox figure in varying degrees in each
book. It’s the characters who contribute to the magical elements that vary, as
well as some of the locations.
Perhaps, you’d like to tell us how you went about
finding the right publisher for your book.
My first
search was for publishers who were accepting unsolicited manuscripts. Then I
looked for some more detailed information about each company and at their terms
of submission. The main thing that influenced me to submit to the Book Guild
was that they asked for the whole manuscript right away and they guaranteed to
respond more quickly than many others, which they did.
I love the black and white illustrations in the book.
How much ‘say’ did you have in the choice of these?
Almost
complete control. I was asked to describe how I saw the main characters and
anything else that was important to the story. I was told that I could suggest
which scenes I wanted illustrated. I knew that there would be ten illustrations
so I made a list but said that there were only four that I absolutely wanted
put in. After that I gave the illustrator, Michael Avery, licence to choose
what he considered the best scenes, but he only changed one of my suggestions.
He sent me some character sketches initially and they were mostly brilliant, but
I didn’t like the way that Lox had been portrayed, so Michael changed that.
When I saw all the completed illustrations, there were two that I was unhappy
with but they were altered without any fuss.
I believe you’ve taken your books into schools to
gauge the response from the children. Would you like to tell us about some of
those visits?
Yes, two
schools have acted as ‘test’ readers for me and the responses have been very
encouraging. One of the schools invited me in for World Book Day last March and
the other invited me in to talk the pupils about the writing/publishing
process. I was bombarded with questions and amazed at their acuity. I recently
visited a school that had no prior knowledge of the book and was delighted at
their attention and interest. Some of them were really surprised that books
often start off with a piece of paper and a pencil. The self-editing process
also confused some, as they thought that once something was ‘finished’, that
was it. (Often applied to classwork/homework, I was told!) I’m hoping to make
many more school visits, as children really are the best judges.
What is the biggest compliment a child could pay you
after reading ‘Ben and the Spider Gate’?
To ask when
the next one will be ready! This has already happened with some of my test
readers in the two schools and also with Maria Grachvogel’s son. Maria is a
London-based fashion designer and gave me an ‘attributable quote’ for the
publishers:
“A heart-warming and magical tale which will really capture your child’s
imagination. My son really enjoyed the book and very much identified with Ben
and Lox. Each evening he wanted to hear the next instalment and was very
captured by the story.”
That's lovely to hear, Angela. You must have been delighted with that. On a general note, how much planning do you do when
you embark on a new story?
I don’t make
really specific plans but I generally have the story outline, and sometimes
quite a bit of detail, in my head before I even put pen to paper. I like to
talk to my characters and even role-play their parts. I do plan things like
time sequences, for example, as I have to make sure that I don’t make mistakes
or create something that isn’t believable. I’ve also had to bear in mind that two
of my main characters are seven years old so there are many places they
wouldn’t be able to go, or things they couldn’t do, at that age. Although
there’s a magical element to the stories, they do have a basic everyday
setting, so I have ensure that it is realistic.
Do you have a typical writing day?
No, not
really. I find it difficult to set and stick to a specific time for writing
every day. Sometimes I prefer to read and I think that helps as it can clear my
mind. Then, when I do sit down to write I can achieve a lot more, and more quickly,
than if I tried to make myself write for a set time each day. Once I am really
into the story, I can write for anything up to eight or ten hours in a day.
What are you currently working on?
I have another
book for children, ‘Molly and the Magic
Mirror’ (8-11 age group) mapped out and the introductory section written but
I need to decide if I’m going to have it as one book or a series. I’ve written
the first of a collection of short stories about ‘The Adventures of Brian, the Happy Banana’. I also have two adult novels partially written
and I’d really like to complete them – even if it’s just for my own
satisfaction.
You must be very excited about the launch of ‘Ben and the Spider Gate’. How
will you be celebrating?
Yes, it’s a
lovely feeling to see something that started as a doodle end up as a published
book. It’s a strange feeling seeing my name on the cover. As I received my copies a little while ago,
we had a family celebration then. By the time the next book is out, in April
next year, I should know if ‘Ben and the
Spider Gate’ has been well received. If it has, then I think a more formal
launch party for ‘Ben 2’ might be in
order!
Thank you so much, Angela,
for taking time to chat to me. I wish you good luck with the new book.
Thank you for
taking an interest. Good luck with your own writing, too.
Angela may be contacted via:
Thank you for reading my blog.
You may also follow me on Twitter @JanBayLit and on Jan Baynham Writer Facebook page.
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