Earlier this week, I was interviewed by Rene Rude over at her website, Rudes Review, which covers book, TV, movies, and games.
Here are a couple of highlights from the interview, during which I talk about Dead Kid Detective Agency series’ appendices (my favourite part of the books) and how petulant spite led me to becoming a writer. Enjoy reading about my spite, I guess? (I’m much less hateful now, I swear.)
From Rudes Review …
What is your favorite “part” in The Dead Kid Detective Agency
Probably the appendix. That might sound like a joke, but I make a lot of references to earlier eras of popular culture, and so I’ve included an appendix at the back of the books so young readers who don’t know who S Club 7 or what Escape from New York is can turn to it as a reference guide. It’s really fun trying to define, say, Kraftwerk in two sentences.
Why did you become a writer?
Maybe spite? I always wrote (and drew) a lot growing up, because if you enjoy any activity or practice enough, you start to try to do it on your own, whether that be books, music, any sport. But I think the moment I attempted to get published as a writer came after working for a long time in book publishing myself. Every season I would see catalogue after catalogue of smiling author photos and thought to myself, ‘I can write a book as good as any of these smug authors!’ (Ha ha.) This was probably not true at all — most of those authors were and still are better writers than me — but it spurred me to getting off my butt and trying.
You can read more at Rudes Review.
