My Interview With… Jess Butterworth

Thank you so much to Jess for answering my questions, there are some very detailed answers here, and she is clearly a really talented and dedicated author. Plus, if you are a teacher, some wonderful ideas of how to take the book into the classroom!

YOU

• What do you hope for in your future as an author?

I hope to continue to publish adventure books for 9-year-olds and up. I’m also working on an exciting new illustrated series for slightly younger readers called The Adventure Club. It’s about animals and I can’t wait for book one, Red Panda Rescue, to be published next year. I’ve also been working on a YA novel for a few years but it’s still nowhere near finished.

            When I write I imagine the scenes very visually, as if I’m watching them, so I’d love to write for the screen one day too!

• All your books seem to have the theme of nature running through them in someway. Is this something that is important to you? Are you a tree hugger?!

Definitely! Nature and protecting the environment is incredibly important to me and I think you have to write about things that you are passionate about.

• Are there any books, which are already published, that you wish you could have written yourself?

Good question! Lots! But definitely His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman – I love the idea of having a daemon!

• If you weren’t an author, what job would you have?

I think something to do with animals like a vet, or conservation. When I was younger I wanted to be David Attenborough.

• How do you split your time between living in America and in England?

I’ve actually just made the permanent move to England which is very exciting!

YOU AS A WRITER

• What book(s) inspired you to become a writer in the first place?

The books I read as a child and young adult, such as Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman, Michael Morpurgo’s stories, and William Nicholson’s Wind on Fire Trilogy, are the ones that have stayed with me my whole life and inspired me to become a children’s author!

• I’m a massive Phillip Pullman fan; I see from your website that you were inspired, in some way, to become a writer after attending a writing workshop with him. What tips (apart from the ball of string!) did he give?

Oh, me too! I was ten at the time but I remember he suggested having a favourite pen and to have fun with world building. Recently I attended a webinar with him and he suggested that writing for yourself, not to please anyone else, was important.

• Do you have any writing routines (like Roald Dahl’s shed, Philip Pullman’s lined paper with only two holes or Stephen King’s 6 pages a day)?

I always start a book in a notebook with a pen – I seem to have much better ideas this way!

• I’m interested in how you construct your stories; are you a planner or a plodder (someone who just writes and doesn’t plan)?

I begin by plodding and then once I have an idea of the characters and their arcs, I like to plot the main points. I don’t usually write in a linear format: I often have ideas for a few key scenes and then fill the story out around them.

• What’s the best piece of advice you can give to other people who enjoy writing?

Keep a notebook for ideas and if you ever feel stuck, ask lots of ‘what if?’ questions. Don’t worry about getting everything right the first time – you can always go back and edit it later. Believe in yourself and have fun – writing a story may seem like a massive task but write a little bit at a time and it soon adds up – you can do it!

YOUR BOOK

• How would convince someone to read the book?

Do you like fast-paced adventure stories? Do you want to travel deep into the swamplands of Louisiana with a group of friends and discover a hidden secret there? Do you like reading about animals? Then Swimming Against the Storm is for you!

• Who is your favourite character in the story (I personally really like Huy, as he seems like a solid rock, someone Eliza can really rely upon)?

Aw I’m glad you like Huy! That’s a tough question! I think Eliza and Avery because I love their sibling bond. Oh, and Monsieur Beau Beau!

• A really important part of my blog is to hopefully give teachers some inspiring ideas of how to use books in the classroom – I’ve seen there are a couple of ideas on your own website, do you have any other particular ideas of how your book could be used to teach any of the primary school subjects (English, Maths, Reading, Science, Geography etc).

I love the idea of using books in the classroom across the curriculum. Below I’ve included some of my own new ideas and some of my favourites from my website.

In science, teachers could look at habitat and ecosystems, especially in the swamp environment. You could draw the animals that live there and label the ways that they are adapted to the environment e.g. The alligators! You could also look at fossil fuels, climate change and rising sea levels. To demonstrate how much land has been lost you could use a picture of Louisiana from fifty years ago and one today – it doesn’t really look like a boot (or ‘L’) anymore! 

A fun creative writing exercise would be to imagine that you have to evacuate because of a hurricane and to write a small passage explaining what you’d pack in your hurricane evacuation kit and how you’d feel.

Other questions in English could be:

• Why do you think the author has started the book with a poem? What effect does it have on you as a reader? How do you think this might be referenced later? You could also have a go at writing your own poem inspired by a swamp animal.
• What effect does it have on you as a reader that the author chooses to end most chapters with a cliff-hanger? Why do you think she has chosen to do this? Can you have a go at writing your own cliff hanger?

Music

• Huy is passionate about music, and in chapter 13 he describes how the swamp makes its own music. Experiment with different musical instruments to make the noises and animal sounds you might hear in a swamp. In groups, compose a musical piece layering these sounds to create your own ‘swamp rhythms’.
• After researching the loup-garou, write your own song lyrics about this creature and compose a soundtrack to accompany them. Perform your songs to the class!
• Listen to some Cajun music!

Geography

• The book is set in the American state of Louisiana. Identify this place on a map and spend some time researching it. Draw comparisons with the UK. How have the characters in the book adapted to living in this area?
• There’s a map at the beginning of the book. You could create your own town in Louisiana and draw a map of it, or draw a map of where you live.
• In chapter 6, the family receives a tornado alert. What is a tornado? What are the differences between hurricanes and tornados?
• Marshland and rivers are obviously an important theme in the book and integral to the lives of the community of ‘Côteville’. Look at the way houses are built in these areas and compare them with the structures of houses in your local area.
• Discuss some of the physical attributes of rivers and marshland and how they are formed over time.
• In chapter 17, the children discover a hidden sinkhole. What is a sinkhole? How is a sinkhole formed?

• You have just released a new book – Where the Wilderness Lives – do you have a plans for the next book yet?!

Yes! I’m delighted to say that INTO THE VOLCANO will be published in April 2021! It’s an adventure set on top of a super volcano! Vivi and Seb live halfway across the world from each other, but after a terrible shooting involving people close to each of them, they end up meeting in the Rocky Mountains. Bonding through their shared experience, they quickly become friends, and decide to search together for an elusive rainbow pool as a way of saying goodbye to the ones they lost.

Soon they find themselves lost on top of a super volcano, dodging bubbling mud spots, steaming hot springs, and rainbow filled calderas. As rain threatens, they’re forced to construct a makeshift camp and encounter moose, wolves and a grizzly bear. But when they run out of food, their adventure becomes a race for survival as they try and find their way out of the wilderness.

The story is told through multiple viewpoints and set between the US and the UK.

Thank you so much for all your brilliant questions!