We are absolutely thrilled to be part of this astronomical blog tour and are delighted that Christopher Edge has answered some questions set by the young worms. You can read our review of The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day now or later.
What are you reading at the moment?
I’ve just finished reading Daemon Voices, a wonderful collection of essays from Philip Pullman on the art of storytelling. I always read in bed at night before I go to sleep, so for the past few weeks I feel as though I’ve been having some rather intense late-night discussions with Philip Pullman!
Could you tell us how you got into writing?
I’ve been writing stories since I first learned how to write, although publication came much later. Following a short-lived career in teaching, I made the move into educational publishing and there had a role reading some of the best contemporary children’s literature being published with a view to discovering novels that teachers might want to use in the classroom. Reading books by authors such as Frank Cottrell Boyce, Sonya Hartnett and Philip Reeve showed me the brilliance and ambition of the stories being told in children’s fiction and made me want to write my own, which I then started doing on the commute to and from work. After a couple of unpublishable novels that are still locked away in a drawer somewhere, I wrote the story that found me my agent, and then a publisher and so finally realized my dream.
Do you miss teaching?
As you might have guessed from my description of my short-lived teaching career, the answer is no! I was waylaid into teaching by the film Dead Poets Society and misled into believing that all you needed to do to be a great teacher was inspire students to stand on desks declaiming poetry.
Where and when do you write?
In the best tradition of Roald Dahl and Charles Dickens I have an office at the bottom of my garden that I retreat to. When I’m writing the first draft of a story I like to immerse myself in this writing full-time, but other times I’ll be travelling to events with a notebook handy so I can keep scribbling away on the move. I actually think I do some of my best writing on trains, so would quite like to be hired as the writer-in-residence on Great Western Railways.
You have written several books for budding authors. What is the most important piece of advice you have on this?
Every writer is a reader and every reader can be a writer too. Fill yourself with stories and I believe your own will start tumbling out.
Which books and authors inspire you?
Too many to mention! Every book I’ve ever read feeds the roots of the tree my stories grow from. Many years ago, bunking off school to get my comics signed my Neil Gaiman inspired me to dream that one day I could be a writer and I’ve blogged about this here.
How do you choose names for your characters?
For me, every story starts with a character and they seem to come to me with a name attached. For The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day I had an image of a girl opening her front door to find an infinite blackness outside and the moment this image came into my mind, I knew this girl’s name was Maisie.
Do you have any connection with Wales?
I’ve walked the whistling sands on the Llyn Peninsula, visited Conwy Castle as a child, but think my strongest connection to Wales is my love of the Super Furry Animals!
You’re clearly interested in Science. Where did this interest come from?
I didn’t enjoy science at school, but as I’ve got older my interest in science has grown. Watching documentaries made by scientists such as Carl Sagan and Professor Brian Cox make me marvel at the sheer wonder of the Universe, and I now find myself picking up books by popular science writers such as Brian Clegg and Carlo Rovelli to read for pleasure!
Your most recent books have been full of scientific ideas but there is often an emotional human story at the heart. Is this a fair assessment, and do you see either as more important?
I think both science and stories approach the same questions from different angles. Why are we here? What makes us human? How do we know we really exist? Both science and fiction help us to make sense of the world, with all its wonder and possibilities as well as its inevitable pain. In my books I hope to use scientific ideas to explore the human condition and tell stories about love, loss and family. Without heart, the story would be a lifeless thing.
You have a Spotify playlist for Jamie Drake. Are you planning one for Maisy Day? If so, what would be your top choices?
Yes, there is a soundtrack for The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day – actually there’re two! As well as my own chapter-by-chapter soundtrack for the book, there’s also a soundtrack that’s been curated by BBC Radio DJ Chris Hawkins of the songs the story reminded him of. And the one song that made it onto both soundtracks is the mesmerizing ‘Birthday’ by The Sugarcubes, whose queasy beauty sets the scene in my mind for the opening chapter of the story. (For more on this visit the Nosy Crow blog).
We love the covers by Matt Saunders. How much involvement do you have with this and how important is it for you that the cover somehow reflects your writing?
I love Matt’s cover art too and the brilliant design that Nosy Crow create for my books. I’m very lucky in the fact that I’m allowed to comment on the cover concepts and designs as these are developed, and feel incredibly proud that the first contact a reader might have with my books comes via Matt’s cover art as I love the way my stories are represented by his artwork.
Can you reveal anything about what you’re working on at the moment?
I’m writing a new novel at the moment which should hopefully be published in Spring 2019. I can’t say too much about it at the moment, but it’s about friendship and what it means to be alive.
What question do you wish we’d asked?
I’m just glad you didn’t ask me to explain infinity!
Thank you so much to Christopher Edge for indulging us. Did you know he came with us to Scotland? Read our review now.