1: Your Thursday Next novels are a whirlwind of totally incredible yet oddly logical action and adventure, much of which takes place inside the world of literature - a world governed by different laws from those in the real world. It should be chaotic and yet it all makes perfect sense! How did this most original series come to be and how do you keep it all straight in your head?

2: Book lovers particularly enjoy your books because of the wonderful in-jokes about literature and the fun you have with well-loved characters that pop up unexpectedly in the narrative. Are there any sacred cows in literature that you wouldn't dare to touch?

3: In your latest novel, First Among Sequels, there is some consternation in the bookworld about falling reading rates. Do you feel that reading is a dying art?

4: And finally, a question only an anal retentive bookseller would ask: Where do you like to see your work shelved? It could fit neatly into fiction, mystery, science fiction.... Are you ever surprised by the way others classify your work?






1: Your Thursday Next novels are a whirlwind of totally incredible yet oddly logical action and adventure, much of which takes place inside the world of literature - a world governed by different laws from those in the real world. It should be chaotic and yet it all makes perfect sense! How did this most original series come to be and how do you keep it all straight in your head?

Hoo-ee! How do I make this answer short?! The TN series came about, as in everything, quite by chance. My first two novels were 'The Big Over Easy' and 'The Fourth Bear' which I wrote in 1993-1995, although they weren't published until 2006/7. These were about taking well-known characters out of context and playing with them in a new way - in these books I was using Nursery Rhyme characters. Unfortunately, I started running out of characters by the middle of book two so then looked around to see if there were any other rich veins to plunder. I chanced across the modern classics and in particular Dorian Grey, who in 'The Fourth Bear' seems to have escaped from Wilde's book and taken up residence in a fictional Reading, where he sells used cars. The point about this was that I used the character but remained true to the spirit of 'The Picture of Dorian Grey'. So when 'The Fourth Bear' was turned down for publication and I was casting around for ideas, I thought about using characters from classical fiction. Jane Eyre gets kidnapped from the original manuscript, so everyone's copies are blank from page 200 on... Hmm, now there's an idea! Of course, once I'd thought up that initial concept, I had to make it fit seamlessly into a world in which this sort of thing could happen. So in many ways the bizarre world that is Thursday's is there to support and camouflage a truly unbelievable concept - it's misdirection. Enjoyable, but still misdirection. Where do you hide a strange idea so no-one notices? In a book full of them! After that, it was simply a case of ideas begetting other ideas. In TN-2 I created the notion of 'The Bookworld' and the policing agency that looks after it. After that, the series tends to write itself. How do I keep it straight in my head? I just reread the series when I come to do a sequel, and rely on some very excellent proofreaders!

2: Book lovers particularly enjoy your books because of the wonderful in-jokes about literature and the fun you have with well-loved characters that pop up unexpectedly in the narrative. Are there any sacred cows in literature that you wouldn't dare to touch?

No, not at all. Everyone is fair game as long as I am not attempting to cheapen the books I am having fun with. I've avoided 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' and 'The Little Prince' (although used references from each) but in general, I use anything - and not just from books. TV and movies, theatre and radio - everywhere!

3: In your latest novel, First Among Sequels, there is some consternation in the bookworld about falling reading rates. Do you feel that reading is a dying art?

Books, as usual, are holding steady but not increasing. I always feel that we are fighting a rearguard action against other forms of entertainment that are trying to engulf us. Since I am an optimism at heart, I am hoping the plethora of banal telly we have at present will actually bring swarms of new readers to the fold as part of an anti-TV/Pro-book backlash. Ah well, we can always hope! I think the gag here is about falling read-rates in Thursday's world, where everyone reads a lot.

4: And finally, a question only an anal retentive bookseller would ask: Where do you like to see your work shelved? It could fit neatly into fiction, mystery, science fiction.... Are you ever surprised by the way others classify your work?

I'd like my books to go everywhere, naturally, at eye level, cover outwards. 'General Fiction' is my first wish, but I've seen them almost everywhere. Foyles of London had me in seven places at once, bless them - New arrivals, SF, Fantasy, Crime, Bestsellers, Staff Recs and Mystery. A record yet to be beaten! In all honesty I'm overjoyed that they are in the shops at all.



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