| Jubilee Books: Take us back to
the time before your first book, Martyn Pig, was published.
What were you doing?
 Kevin
Brooks: I had been working in the customer service
department for National Rail but packed that job in about
6 months before Martyn Pig was published.
I was still doing quite a lot of writing while I was working
there though. I’d sent the manuscript for Martyn Pig
to just about everyone and there was a few people that were
interested but nothing concrete.
I’d actually already started on my next book and came
across Chicken House Publishing in a magazine and thought
I’d send them the first chapter. Barry (Cunningham),
who runs Chicken House, called me the next day and asked
to have a look at the rest of the book. When he finished
it he rang me again and said that he’d like to offer
me something.
I’d only really been concentrating on writing full
length novels for a few years but had got used to being
rejected because I’d spent quite a long time in the
music business. It was kind of relief and excitement when
I made that breakthrough.
Both Martyn Pig and your second book Lucas have
been pretty well received and you also won the Branford
Boase award. Have you been surprised by the how well received
your books have been?
It’s quite strange, it’s all happened
in quite a short time. When things started going OK it wasn’t
a huge surprise because I didn’t know what else to
expect. I realize now though that it’s gone pretty
well in a short space of time. As for the prizes, it’s
nice to get involved in the awards when schools and kids
are involved and to meet people in the same industry.
You mentioned that you'd been a musician in a previous
question. Had you tried other types of writing, like poetry
for example, and how did you end up becoming a children’s
writer?
I’d always written in some form, little poems and
things, but it wasn’t an ambition to write for teenagers.
When I started writing seriously I concentrated on writing
novels for adults and teenagers to try and find out what
I was good at or what came naturally. It took a while and
when I came to Martyn Pig I didn’t approach it as
a book for teenagers, I just wanted to write a book about
a teenage boy.
I found I preferred writing for that age group and it felt
very natural to me. I found that when I was writing for
adults I tended to lapse into pretentiousness a bit, whereas
when I was writing for younger people it made me concentrate
on writing the story rather than rambling or digressing
or trying to write cleverly. I think that helped my writing
and the more I did it the more I realized it suited me.
I feel pretty much that kind of age anyway.
Are you particularly conscious of your readership?
Not really when I’m writing. I suppose if there’s
a reader in mind it’s myself, I feel pretty much the
same as when I was 15 anyway so I don’t have to imagine
what it’s like to be that age. I also don’t
much like the idea of writing for a particular market so
I just write stuff that feels Ok to me and hope it strikes
a chord with the readers and so far the feedback has been
good.
Your latest book, Kissing the Rain, has a very
strong lead character, Moo, and a very tense plot. I was
wondering which of these came first or if they were developed
together?
They kind of evolved together really. Before I start writing
I tend to think about ideas for quite a long time and with
that book it started with a very basic idea of a character
with a dilemma, it was as simple as that. I wanted to put
them in a situation where they had a choice of doing one
of two things to resolve a conflict and they couldn’t
choose either of those things. I then began building up
this character and I did actually see a boy standing on
a bridge at one point and thought that would be a good idea.
He wasn’t anything like Moo but I started thinking
about this boy and developing this character in my mind.
From then it was just a case of putting that into some kind
of story. I read quite a lot of crime fiction and I like
the way crime situations can stir things up and put characters
in situations that give them conflict that they have to
resolve. So the two ideas merged together over a period
of time.
Tell me a bit about Moo's narrative?
When I was thinking about the character I wanted him to
be not particularly articulate and not very good at expressing
his feelings but having those feelings. I wanted him to
have trouble articulating his feelings in a conventional
way.
I’ve been reading lots of letters and emails I get
from kids and I was reading a lot of web logs about kids
with weight problems and I found out that when a lot of
them write about themselves they’re not particularly
terrific at articulating what they feel but it comes out
quite powerfully. Through having trouble trying to do that
you sometimes get these very powerful emotions coming out.
You mentioned that you read a lot of crime novels,
did you do other research into legal and courtroom procedures?
I did actually, I don’t generally do a lot of research
but if I’m not sure about something I do try and research
it. I really had to find out how witnesses work and legal
procedures. I found on the Internet some lawyers and barristers
to make sure I got it correct as possible.
To what extent do you plot your books?
I don’t plan them in detail but I do plan how it starts
and how it ends, all the key details along the way. I’ve
usually got a page or two page plan of the story and where
it goes. As I start writing things do evolve and change
slightly but it’s nice to have that framework to come
back to. For me it makes it easier to write, you’ve
got that sketch, that framework of key points. It also makes
it less daunting than starting at page one and having a
whole book to write in front of you, instead of looking
to the end you’re looking to the next key point.
Where and when do you usually write?
When I’m actually writing a book I try to do a full
days work so usually between six and eight hours a day actually
writing. I like to do as much as possible because it means
that I totally immerse myself in the story and am living
it all the time and so when I’m not writing I’m
still thinking about it. I usually do three or four hours
in the afternoon and then the same in the evening.
What writers have influenced your writing?
I’ve always read lots of different things and I think
everything has an influence to some extent. I like crime
writing, lots of American stuff, I started off reading Raymond
Chandler and I still read a lot of American stuff like James
Lee Burke, Lawrence Block, Denis Lehane and people like
that.
In my early years J. D. Salinger was always a big favourite,
John Steinbeck, Jack Kerouac, Jack London but then I also
like reading a lot of non fiction stuff and I really like
westerns.
I think you can get different things out of all sorts of
different books and I think because I spent so long reading
all kinds of different things I think that has really helped.
When Martyn Pig came out, for example, there were some reviews
mentioning that it was well plotted and structured and that
was a surprise because I wasn’t aware I had done that,
but when I think you read and read all the time you somehow
soak up how to plot stuff without realizing it, it's a very
subconscious thing.
Do you read much other teen fiction?
I don’t read huge amounts although I read more now
because I’m involved in it more and am meeting people
and learning more about it all. Because I won the Branford
Boase award last year I’m judging this years competition
so I’ve got piles of books to read for that. When
I’m working on books I try not to read much teen fiction.
A writer I really like at the moment is Jack Gantos, I met
him last year in America at a conference and he was very
nice to me and gave me some of his Joey Pigza books. I met
him again when he came to London and he gave me his book
Desire Lines which is one of his recent ones and I think
he’s a fantastic writer.
You mentioned visiting America, was that book related?
I’m published by Scholastic in America so they arranged
it. I met some people at Scholastic and some booksellers
in New York and then went to a young adult writing conference
where I did a few workshops and speeches.
And how are your books doing there?
Quite well actually. Chicken House have a deal with Scholastic
in America to publish their books there so I was automatically
published there. I just assumed that is what happened to
everyone but I now realize a lot of British teenage writers
don’t do particularly well in America or aren’t
even published there. I also get quite a lot of emails from
kids there.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m working on a screenplay for Martyn Pig at the
moment. Some young filmmakers have got an option to make
the film and I met them and they asked me to write the screenplay
for it. I’ve just done a story for Barrington Stoke
and have finished a fourth book for Chicken House which
is being edited at the moment.
 Interview
conducted with Joseph Pike April 2004
Material © Jubilee Books.
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