P.B.Kerr IN HIS OWN WORDS...

P.B.Kerr is the author of our Top New Book for October 2004 - Children of the Lamp.
In the following interview P.B.Kerr talks about developing the stories and the characters within the book and what influenced him to write Children of the Lamp.
Read on to find out more...

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1. Why the change from adult to children's writing?

I have three children. I wanted to write a book for them. But as it happens, it really didn't feel like much of a change. It wasn't as if I wrote the book in a different way just because it was for children. Children of the Lamp is still a novel, and has to work as a novel like any other. But it's true that there's no swearing and there's no sex.

2. Was it easier or more difficult to write for children rather than your usual adult audience?

Being a thriller writer I start from an advantage in that I'm very story led. (That's what we writers say when we mean we don't have a fancy writing style.) I've come to the conclusion that thrillers are children's books for grown ups. And that there are one or two of my adult books that would make pretty good children's books if I edited them a bit. It wasn't any easier or more difficult to write a children's book except to say that I didn't do much research. I just wrote, and to that extent writing Children of the Lamp felt like a lot of fun. To some extent it was like being a child again myself.

3. Did you have the whole story in your head when you began writing Children of the Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure?

I had a large part of the story worked out if you like, I had a drawn a map of where I wanted to go, but not necessarily how I would get there, but there were bits that came into my head as I went along. And my son William suggested a couple of ideas, for which he has been handsomely paid. He's thinking of writing a book himself now.

4. How did the story develop?

The story came into my head on February 14 th 2004 . I didn't think it was going to be of any interest to anyone except me and my own children. So I just wrote it with no expectation that it would be published. After all, you read a lot of things in the paper about people writing children's books, and I honestly thought that there could be no room on the bandwagon. I fully intended having the book printed privately and using them as Christmas presents.

5. How did the characters develop? Are they based on people you know/your own children?

John and Philippa are based on me and my own sister, when we were children of course. Only fourteen months separated us, and in a way we were quite like twins ourselves. She was and is the most annoying person I know. And I know she feels the same about me. But we're still pretty close for all of that.

6. Who is your favourite character in the book and why?

I like Nimrod of course because he's a bit pompous (like me), and a bit vain (like me). He likes his food (like me) and owns a red suit (like me). He also loves Cairo (like me) and the Egyptians (like me). Stephen Fry would be the best person to play Nimrod if ever the film does get made. I've met him a few times and he's a very sweet man. And very clever (not like me) so he'd be a fantastic Nimrod.

I also have a sneaking affection for Iblis. I like villains, especially sneering nasty ones who hate kids.

A shrink might tell you that these are two aspects of the same character. Me.

7. Did your children have much input into the book?

A bit of input, yes. They kept on giving me ideas that they’d seen in films and books they’d read, and it took me a while to persuade them that I was looking for ideas of their own. Children have to be encouraged to believe that their own thoughts are as good as, or even better than stuff they’ve ingested already.

8. Did you travel to each of the countries in the book to research?

I've been to Egypt several times, and love it. Cairo is one of the world's greatest cities and right now is a very good time to go. People are afraid something will happen to them, but honestly, when you get there, it seems very safe. Cairenes are very friendly, even to English and Americans. And it's even cheaper than normal, because the tourist industry is in turmoil because of the war in Iraq .

I've been to New York many times. East 77 th Street , where the twins live, is just around the corner from my favourite New York hotel, The Carlyle.

I've been to Russia , but not the North Pole.

9. Why do you believe stories are so important?

I could give you a Bruno Bettelheim sort of answer here about the importance of stories in making children think and in shaping the rest of their lives. But, to bowlderise Bill Shankly, they’re more important than that.

10. How long did it take you to write Children of the Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure?

Not telling.

11. Where and when do you write? Do you make sure you have written a certain amount each day?

I write every day, even weekends. I start at about eight-thirty, and keep going until twelve thirty when I stop for a sandwich. I start again at 1.30 and finish at 4.l30. Then I have some exercise, see my kids and watch TV. I write with a pencil, and only when the whole book has been finished by hand, do I transfer it onto the computer.

12. Which children's writers do you admire?

As a child I read everything. I was a member of a library in Corstorphine, Edinburgh, and my parents used to take me there on a Friday night. My favourites were R.L.Stevenson, Arthur Ransome, Anthony Buckeridge (sic?), Kipling, Captain W.E. Johns, C.S.Lewis, Captain Marryat, Walter Scott, Alan Garner, and Enid Blyton. I'm reading The Faraway Tree to my youngest son at the moment, and it's very good. And I'm turning Alan Garner's novel The Owl Service into a screenplay with film director Michael Radford.

13. What was your favourite book as a child?

The Compleat Molesworth by Ronald Searle

Stig of The Dump by Clive King

Stalky and Co, by Rudyard Kipling.

Goldfinger by Ian Fleming (especially page 35)

14. Which books have made a difference to your life?

Apart from the Bible and Shakespeare? I was brought up in a very religious home and for several years as a child read the Bible every day. These days I don't look at it very much at all. But books will always make a difference to me. Without books I'd be a very unhappy man. There is no pleasure like a nice new hardback.

My own books changed my life, of course. My first published novel was called March Violets. And that made a difference in my life in the sense that it meant I could make a living from my writing. But The Magus by John Fowles was pretty good. Nearly everything by Orwell. And a jolly clever book by Wittgenstein.

15. Have you written the next book yet? Will we hear more from Philippa and John?

I've just started Book Two. It's called The Blue Djinn of Babylon and features John and Philippa, Uncle Nimrod, Mister Rakshasas, Groanin and some new characters.