{"id":26248,"date":"2025-07-27T01:58:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T01:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/26248\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T01:58:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T01:58:14","slug":"with-picture-books-im-ruthless-and-that-has-carried-over-into-my-novel-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/26248\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018With picture books, I\u2019m ruthless, and that has carried over into my novel\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">What is your new book The Museum of Lost Umbrellas about?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">It\u2019s an adventure story for nine to 12-year-olds, set on the imaginary island of Ollipest, where Dilly Kyteler goes to live in a rather odd house with her rather odd aunt. The magic begins when Dilly discovers the Museum of Lost Umbrellas on Half Moon Lane, and one of the lost umbrellas leaps into her arms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">It\u2019s the first of a fantasy series. What challenges does that pose and how far ahead have you planned?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">The book involved world-building, which is new for me. I had to think through each choice and invention because everything has to make sense across multiple books, plus allow for expansion. The second book is in the works, and there are three further ideas, two of which are prequels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">It\u2019s a return to middle grade (MG) fiction after a 12-year gap in which you\u2019ve written two young adult (YA) novels. How would you compare the challenges and rewards of writing for the two different age groups?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Both require solid, propulsive storytelling; but I think middle grade is more story-led, while young adult is character-led. I usually write MG in third person and YA in first. The challenge is switching my head from one to the other; the reward is variety!<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">You are both a writer and illustrator. Does it feel like using different parts of your brain or do the two overlap? When you have an idea, is it usually an image or words? <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">With picture book ideas, images and words arrive more or less together. When drawing or painting, I listen to podcasts or the radio to dial back interference from the word-side of my head. The radio is off when I\u2019m drafting a novel \u2013 I even find reading other voices in my spare time distracting. The overlap between my picture books and novels is that my novels are very visual \u2013 readers say they see them unroll like movies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-it-article-body__interstitial-link\">[\u00a0<a aria-label=\"Open related story\" class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/culture\/books\/2025\/07\/05\/summer-reading-our-critics-recommendations-for-2025\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The best books for summer 2025: our critics\u2019 top picksOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Are there common themes in your books? How has your writing and drawing style evolved?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Overcoming fear is my most repeated theme, feeling like the outsider is another \u2013 fairly common experiences in books and life. My tic is giving my main character an unusual name. I keep thinking I\u2019ve stopped doing it and up it pops again! Style-wise, I push at my own edges quite a bit, challenging myself to try new things.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Hagwitch was the Children\u2019s Book of the Year in Ireland in 2014. What was it about?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Hagwitch is a novel with a dual narrative, one story set in the theatres of Tudor London, the other set on a puppet barge in modern day Little Venice. Both involve a chunk of Hawthorn wood inhabited by a malevolent spirit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Tell us about your debut YA novel, On Midnight Beach, which was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">It\u2019s a retelling of The T\u00e1in. I reimagined the legend as a quarrel between two fishing villages over a visiting dolphin and set my story in the sweltering summer of \u201976. Think C\u00faChulainn, Maebh, Emer and Fergus in bell-bottoms, T-shirts, and clogs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">What have been your career highlights?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">The Children\u2019s Books Ireland (CBI) awards, the Carnegie shortlisting, being Ireland\u2019s nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen and Astrid Lindgren Awards. Stomp-dancing around a fire in the woods with Choctaw and Chickasaw families in Oklahoma while researching The Long March. Working with the legendary New York picture book editor, Neal Porter. Seeing my books in other languages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Which projects are you working on?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Right now, it\u2019s all things Cloud Witch Chronicles, though there\u2019s a YA novel lurking. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Have you ever made a literary pilgrimage?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Yes, to visit the Alcott house in Concord, Massachusetts. It\u2019s right on the edge of a busy road but the minute you step through the door, you\u2019re inside Little Women.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">What is the best writing advice you have heard?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Kill your darlings. With picture books, I\u2019m ruthless, and that has carried over into my novels. Words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, characters \u2013 if they\u2019re in the way, out they go, no regrets. I cut an entire storyline from On Midnight Beach, 15,000 words in fifteen minutes. It\u2019s so satisfying to see everything tighten up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Who do you admire the most?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Writers? Elizabeth Strout, David Almond, Meg Rosoff, John LeCarr\u00e9, Kate DiCamillo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Which current book, film and podcast would you recommend?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">The Country of Others by Le\u00efla Slimani; Past Lives. I\u2019m a Bren\u00e9 Brown fan. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Which public event affected you most?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">In the past, 9\/11. Today, the annihilation of Gaza.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">The most remarkable place you have visited?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Australia, with its astonishing wildlife. I saw mudskippers, dingoes, bowerbirds, bandicoots, flying-foxes, thorny-devils, stinging trees, and nearly collided with a cassowary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Your most treasured possession?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">A tiny handmade book on a chain. It\u2019s filled with minute drawings by children\u2019s illustrators I\u2019ve met.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">What is the most beautiful book that you own? <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">I own a lot of picturebooks &#8230; one of Shaun Tan\u2019s maybe, Isabelle Arsenault\u2019s or Sydney Smith\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Which writers, living or dead, would you invite to your dream dinner party?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Rosemary Sutcliff, Kate DiCamillo, Anne Frank, Louisa (and May) Alcott, George Eliot, Arthur Ransome, Diana Wynne Jones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Who is your favourite fictional character? <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">Jo (and Amy) March.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">A book to make me laugh?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">The Book With No Pictures by BJ Novak.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">A book that might move me to tears?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall\">The Museum of Lost Umbrellas is published by Faber &amp; Faber on July 31st.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What is your new book The Museum of Lost Umbrellas about? It\u2019s an adventure story for nine to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[7578,457,96,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-26248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-book-reviews","9":"tag-books","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}