My interview with…Ross Welford

So, here on Kinkajousreadtoo, it’s double author interview week. I recorded these a while back, so, sorry for the delay in publishing them.

My first interview is with science fiction/fantasy author supremo Ross Welford. He who wrote: Time Travelling With A Hamster, The 1000 Year Old Boy among others.

Thanks to Ross for giving his time and also some great insightful answers. I really like his comment about imagination being amazing and something we are all blessed with, but it’s nothing without hard work and dedication.

He has new projects coming out in early 2025, but apart from that can’t say anymore.

1) Why did you want to write a sequel?

I’d always thought I might.  I’d just never had the right idea, because the plot of Time Travelling With A Hamster is pretty tight.  Still, when I pitched the idea to my publishers they were keen, so I thought…why not?

2) Obvious question, but I have to ask – where would you go in a time machine?!

I wouldn’t set foot in one: not after inventing countless things that can go wrong!

3) Do you think that time travel will be possible one day?

You’re asking the wrong person.  I just make stuff up!  But my hunch is …probably not.  (Mind you, I’m still amazed by mobile phones so what do I know?)

4) Do you have any writing routines? How do you keep the juices flowing?!

It’s a cliche, but to get a book done, I have to write every day, or nearly every day.  I have to do it even when I’m not in the mood.  It’s a job. That way, the characters stay ‘alive’ in my head.

5) Quite a heavy question now… One of the key themes of the story for me is being happy with what you’ve got and not searching for more. Do you feel that modern society is pushing people away from their families to an unobtainable version of themselves?

I detect pressures on children these days encouraging them to be something that they simply cannot and will not ever be, as well as the deification of wealth and glamour. I don’t mean that one shouldn’t strive to make the very best of one’s potential, or that you should just put up with your lot; quite the reverse.  But I do get impatient with children being told nonsense like, “you can be anything you want to be – all you have to do is imagine hard enough.”  Give me a break!  Imagination is one of our greatest gifts, and visualising what you want to achieve is incredibly powerful, but it nearly always requires hard work and dedication.  And besides, wealth and glamour for their own sake are pretty soulless goals.

6) As a teacher myself, I’d like this blog to be useful to my fellow professionals. How would you like teachers to use your book in the classroom?

I’m afraid I’m completely unqualified to answer that!  I’m delighted that my books are popular in schools, and one of the reasons I write such short chapters is to facilitate reading aloud, but I have no idea other than that.

7) Who inspired you to write?

My wife, I suppose.  While I was unemployed, she was working hard to pay our bills.  The feeling that that engendered forced me to sit down and do something useful, like write a book.  That became Time Travelling With A Hamster and my career as an author was launched.  Thanks Mrs W!

8) What’s your next project that we can look forward to?

It has the working title of {…redacted…} and will be much {…redacted…} as well as {….redacted…}. Yeah, sorry: it’s all a bit secret at the moment!  All being well, it’ll be out early 2025.