Firstly, a big thank you to Robin for agreeing to be pestered by my questions! Secondly, do check out the website that goes alongside the book, as there are lots of great resources!
Do you have any writing routines?
Alarm goes off at 6.45am. If I’m quick, I can get cereal boxes strewn around the table, kids up, dog greeted etc by 7.15, which gives me 45 minutes to sit in bed with a coffee and read over what I wrote the day before. If I’ve got time, I’ll also plan what I’ll write later, before I take the kids to school. I do admin and letters all morning, walk the dog after lunch, then start writing at 2pm until 6pm when the kids get back. … and repeat.
How do you construct your story arc? Do you plan, or do you just see what happens?
Depends. I’ll know almost from the start if a book will take a lot of planning or if I want to write off the cuff. Rule of thumb is the more experimental, the more solid foundations I’ll need (I tend to go for the ‘classic’ 5-Act structure in those cases). However, if it’s character-based (like Monster Max), very often you just point your cast at a situation and off they go.
I have seen that the website linked to the book has some extra ideas and information, but iIf teachers wanted to use your book in the classroom, do you have any top ideas for how to do this?
Yes, there are lots of resources on http://monstermax.co.uk (thanks Georgia), but teachers could also use the book to get kids to focus on character (hero and anti-hero), as I said above. Perhaps imagine what their character’s TikTok page or Facebook feed might look like …
There are lots of funny moments in your story, what your favourite joke?
‘You need an MO,’ said his dad. ‘That spells half a moo, like your cow’s in a hurry,’ said Max.
What do you hope for in your future as an author?
I’d like to keep writing forever – slightly improving all the time would be great, but I’d happily settle for not getting any worse.
Are there any book already published that you wish you had written?
Loads! And it tends to change all the time. Right now: Grownup Book: Where the Crawdads Sing – simply because it’s a beautiful book, inside and out Not so Grown up: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell – no-one can write like Clarke. Kids: Danny the Champion of the World – every time for all time. Not just because Dahl was describing chunks of my life (we didn’t have any money in 1970s and poached a lot, out of necessity) but because he described it in a way that may me feel it was OK – even better than OK and 9 year old Robin will always be grateful for that.
If you weren’t a writer, what job would you have?
I do sometimes wish I’d joined the army. I looked at joining the Ghurkas (like my father) and I know I would have loved trekking in Nepal, high up in the mountains, like you get to do. However, I think everyone agreed that putting me in charge of a tank was a terrible idea.
Wow, imagine that – in charge of a tank; I wonder what Monster Max would do if he saw Robin driving a tank?!
Kinkajousreadtoo 
Leave a comment