1: You are noted for your popular 'Thursday Next' work, which chronicles the literary detective Thursday. The series is not one that can be pinned down to one genre category. Can you please tell describe to readers who may not have yet jumped into this series, what the premise of the "Thursday Next" series is?

2: Your have a new book coming out in July, 'The Big Over Easy: a nursery crime'. This novel, if I am correct, takes place in the same setting as your 'Thursday Next' work, but doesn't feature Thursday. What can we expect from this work, and would you consider it an accessible start off point for new readers?

3: I mentioned before your work is not easily categorized. It a times is called one, all, of a combination of a fantasy, alternate history, mystery, satirical/parody, and you come fro ma film background. With all that in mind, what or who influences your writing?

4: What can you we expect from you in the future? Any plans for any work outside of this series?

5: You have and maintain an expansive website. How important do you think the web contemporary authors, and how, if at all, do you feel has it helped you?

6: As already mentioned you did work in film industry. Is there any news on a possible adaptation, and also I saw a comment on your site, which reflect your adamant stipulation of total control of any such production. Is this motivated by things you have seen occur in prior adaptations? Ursula Leguin was in the news earlier this year, voicing her displeasure with the Sci-Fi channel adaptation of her 'Earth Sea' work. Is it due to avoid similar circumstance or another altogether?

7: Can you please recommend authors or individual works that you admire, regardless of genre, contemporary or not.






1: You are noted for your popular 'Thursday Next' work, which chronicles the literary detective Thursday. The series is not one that can be pinned down to one genre category. Can you please tell describe to readers who may not have yet jumped into this series, what the premise of the "Thursday Next' series is?

Imagine that books are not hard immutable objects but actually an immensley complex story-telling technology, and the characters within them only actors playing the parts for your entertainment - that as soon as you close the covers of the book you are reading, they all relax and carry on their own lives, ready to spring into action as soon as you pick up the book again. This is true of all books, classics and romantic fiction, bad science fiction to Shakespeare. And when these characters are not working and off duty they have lives, hobbies and problems just like the rest of us. Thursday Next is a literary detective in the real world who finds herself caught up in this bizarre 'bookworld' behind the covers when her insane inventor uncle designs a 'Prose Portal' which is then used -quite against his will - to kidnap Jane Eyre from "Jane Eyre". But there's more to it than that - lots more. Full of book references and recognisable characters from famous books, the Thursday Next series is not only an amusing and irreverant romp through the classics, but also a celebration of storytelling itself.

2: You have a new book coming out in July, 'The Big Over Easy: a nursery crime'. This novel, if I am correct, takes place in the same setting as your 'Thursday Next' work, but doesn't feature Thursday. What can we expect from this work, and would you consider it an accessible start off point for new readers?

'The Big Over Easy', although referred to in one of the Thursday Next novels, is entirely stand alone and does not require any knowledge of the Thursday Next books at all. It is simply a crime thriller with a difference - Humpty Dumpty is the victim. That's right, the 'fall guy'. He's found shattered beneath his favourite wall - and someone is responsible.

3: I mentioned before your work is not easily categorized. It a times is called one, all, of a combination of a fantasy, alternate history, mystery, satirical/parody, and you come fro ma film background. With all that in mind, what or who influences your writing?

The greatest influence has been, and continues to be the 'Alice' books by Lewis Carroll. A benchmark of inspired nonsense that any absurdist writer should try and attain. They were the first books I remember choosing to read of my own volition. (Important, I think; the first fifty or so dowdy reading primers are chosen for us. It is a 'learning to walk' moment when you have the power to read, and, critically, choose to do so) I must have been seven years old at the time and was swept away by Alice's madcap escapades and respectful irreverence of established nursery characters and situations.

On subsequent readings I enjoyed it even more - truly a multi-layered book from which you can either just enjoy the story or, on a deeper level, understand the subtleties of the White Knight's 'names of names' metalanguage. It is no accident that many of the characters in my books originally appear in Alice - The Cheshire Cat, the Red Queen, the King and Queen of Hearts. I think the mix of highbrow and nonsense greatly appeals to me; Lewis Carroll was an extremely intelligent man and could make humorous connections in his writings that are as fresh, full of genuine charm and as delightful now as they were in the late nineteenth century.

But for all that Grade-A nonsense there is a strong and very logical construction of Alice's world. Everything that happens is entirely reasonable given the framework that Carroll creates. Alice herself is only mildly curious about growing larger or smaller, feels only timidity meeting Humpty Dumpty and will quite happily assist Tweedledee and Tweedledum to do battle. This 'compassionate observer' of all that is weird and wonderful and unexpected is something that I try to reflect upon Thursday. There is little that surprises or fazes her - she just shrugs and gets on with the job in hand; an unflappable guide to lead us about a fantastic place. But in addition I think it would be fair to say that I am influenced by almost everything I see and read or hear. All writers are. I just tend to take life's rich tapestry and wring it out into a bucket, distil the contents and spread it thickly on paper.

4:What can you we expect from you in the future? Any plans for any work outside of this series?

Lots. I have two unpublished novels and a sequel to 'The Big Over Easy' in complete draft form and am working on two new ideas for novels as well as the fifth Thursday Next adventure. It's an exciting time for me. Being a writer is great fun, especially in the absurdist/fantasy genre - the only limitation is my own imagination.

5: You have and maintain an expansive website. How important do you think the web contemporary authors, and how, if at all, do you feel has it helped you?

Impossible to say, really. It's not as though I could run my career without it and then compare the results. I don't think it can hurt, obviously, and is good for getting information across such as my signing apperances. I regard it as 'after sales service' but it does seem that it is used by a concentrated 'hard core' of readers who also like to go online a lot. I used to spend a lot more time on it - the bottom line is that my time is best spent writing more books, and I don't think anyone who likes the books and my website would disagree with that.

6: As already mentioned you did work in film industry. Is there any news on a possible adaptation, and also I saw a comment on your site, which reflect your adamant stipulation of total control of any such production. Is this motivated by things you have seen occur in prior adaptations? Ursula Leguin was in the news earlier this year, voicing her displeasure with the Sci-Fi channel adaptation of her 'Earth Sea' work. Is it due to avoid similar circumstance or another altogether?

I'm always amused by writers who turn around and bemoan the moviemakers for wrecking their work, but you take that very great risk when you accept their money - there can't be any writers around who don't know what a complete pig's ear producers can make of a decent book. As Hemingway used to observe, you go to the Californian border, throw over your script and they chuck back the money. If you don't want to run the risk of them screwing it up, don't sell it. It's not as though they're holding a gun to your head, after all. For that reason I haven't let anyone have the rights, and won't do in the forseeable future. It's not as though my books have to be made into films, anyway.

7: Can you please recommend authors or individual works that you admire, regardless of genre, contemporary or not.

Always a tricky one this. Ten excellent books that I can read again and again (in no particular order)

1: 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Alice through the looking glass' (Lewis Carroll) Nonsense of the highest order, yet to be surpassed. Extraordinary invention on many levels. Read it as a child and later as an adult - you'll get different things from it. Special Mention: The Jabberwock wearing spats and a tunic in John Tenniel's excellent illustration.

2:'Three Men in a Boat' (Jerome K Jerome) A book that I still laugh out loud whilst reading. Fresh and joyous self-deprecating humor of lazy Victorian gentleman going for a cruise on the Thames in the late nineteenth century. I challenge anyone to read the 'Taking two cheeses by train' story without smirking. Special Mention: Montmorency the dog, cooking with a spirit stove and trying to open a tin.

3: 'Diary of a Nobody' (Bert and Weedon Grossmith) Again, a book of infinite charm written over a hundred years ago but still relevant to us today. Follow Charles Pooter, a middle class clerk as he attempts social climbing, dealing with his dissolute son Lupin and all the 'fads' of the time, with highly amusing consequences. Special Mention: The Pooter's odd friends, Cumming and Gowing, Parlour games, the bootscraper incident and the Mansion House Ball spelling mistake.

4: Slaughterhouse-5 (Kurt Vonnegut) A bizarre and surreal story that spans time-travel, the bombing of Dresden and conventions of Optometrists with a style, pace and verve that is extraordinary. Special Mention: The Tralfamadorian's centipede view of the life cycle of a human.

5: Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) Much has been written about this book and it is all true. One of the finest, if not THE finest books of the twentieth century. Especially notable for the way in which the narrative unfolds as we go from character to character. The section where Milo Minderbinder explains to Yossarian how he can sell eggs cheaper than he bought them and still make a profit is quite simply a delight. Special Mention: The catch itself. It's the best there is.

6: To Kill a Mocking Bird (Harper Lee) Made a great impression on me when I first read it aged twelve and still makes me angry and frustrated after the verdict - you can feel the heat in the courtroom! Special Mention: The truth about Boo Radley.

7: The Little Prince (Antoine De St. Exupery) Allegorical children's book that continues to enthrall and delight. Oddly, St. Exupery wrote and illustrated this on a whim - the rest of his writing is good but does not reach the heights of 'Prince'. Perhaps because he wasn't trying and the door opened to his heart. Special Mention: The rose, the fox and the baobab trees. I never looked at one the same way ever again.

8: Summer Lightning (P.G.Wodehouse) I mention this one book although I dearly love all of Wodehouse's writing. 'Summer Lightning' is probably the most indicative of his work. A story set at Blandings Castle in Shropshire In the twenties, it has all the Wodehouse elements: Forbidden love trysts in the rose garden, idiot sons, fearful aunts, damaging unpublished memoirs, theft, intrigue, pretty dancers and an impostor - there is always at least one at Castle Blandings. Special Mention: Empress Blandings, winner of the Shropshire Fat Pig Competition - Lord Emsworth hopes.

9: Decline and Fall (Evelyn Waugh). Again, I mention this book but his others are equally as good; 'Scoop' being my next favorite. 'Decline and Fall' has an episodic quality that I enjoy immensely and snaps along with a dry humor to die for. Special Mention: Captain Grimes and Margot Beste-Chetwynde. Comic creations with depth and humor.

10: The Calculus Affair (Herge (George Remi)) I'm a long-time Tintin fan and he remains a big inspiration for story telling. 'The Calculus Affair' is one of the later books and probably the best. By this time Herge's illustrations, characterization and humor was never better. The story about secret inventions and kidnappings by foreign powers just snaps along at a breakneck speed. Tank, Helicopter and car chases - this book is like a movie on paper! Special Mention: The locations drawn in the book are for real. You can visit them.





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