Questions & Answers

Many lawyers have turned to story telling, notably Sir Patrick Hastings and John Mortimer but I don't know any who have focused on children's stories. Are you the first?

Not aware of any others

What persuaded you to try? A downturn in the legal profession sounds a bit thin considering some of the briefs you have handled and the fact that you took silk in 2000?

My main ambition from around 9 was to be a writer : I had a total conviction (sadly as yet unrealized) that I would make my fortune from writing books. At 12 I caught mumps, lay in bed with a brand new red exercise book starting a detective novel : with recovery writing ceased. I then decided (for some reason I can no longer fathom but think must have been linked to the pursuit of material possessions) to read law at Oxford : at 16 I was awarded a place at St Catz conditional on 2 E grades at A level and Use of English! However, at around the same time I wrote a full length children’s adventure story wholly lacking in originality : fortunately I was not able to find a publisher. At Oxford I became obsessed (again for reasons I can no longer fully fathom) with getting First Class degrees : I got two by the age of 21. In consequence literary ambitions were neglected. In my early years at the Bar I wrote poetry : my problem with much modern poetry is not form but content : when I submitted mine to literary criticism the examiner found it a not unpleasant interlude from reality! Over the years I have started various novels. I completed one at around 30 : again unpublished (thank God!). With the birth of my children for the first time I gained an audience which really enjoyed my stories. The property recession gave me the opportunity to write them down in 1991, initially in what I regarded as a form of blank verse but which a rejecting publisher described as something between prose and poetry: this initial form together with origin in bedtime storytelling explain my concise use of language.

Most children's authors make their big bucks from merchandising and film rights. Have you had any film offers for Swords of Ramion?

Not as yet : the stories are small in scale, about two families, ours down in the village, and up in the hills the witch Griselda (who like my wife has purple hair) Boris the skull ( to whom I feel a particular affinity) and the dim daft dwarves (who share the more unpleasant characteristics of our children) : more suitable for TV than a film.

And are there merchandising plans ahead?

My brother Andrew makes his living making Jack-in-a-boxes : I hope one day there will be Snuggle in a box, Scrooey-Loooey in a box, Griselda in a box, but I need to sell more books before I could persuade my brother that it is commercially viable.

Why are the pages not numbered in Swords of Ramion?

There is a single print run to produce 5 books : half the print run is bound as a collection and the other half is divided up to create the 4 individual stories : this has transformed the economics.

Which authors did you read when you were 8?

Enid Blyton, Dr Doolittle

And at 12?

Historical novels : Geoffrey Treece, Henry Trease, Rosemary Sutcliffe Wind in the Willows. Kipling. Rider Haggard

And who were your favourites?

Wind in the Willows is the book I most wish I had written.

Which current authors of children's fiction do you admire?

Roald Dahl
Mark Haddon

As your children get older will you write stories for older children?

My children are 21, 20 and 17. I have no intention of writing for older children

Do you think there is a justifiable market for fiction for teenagers or "young adults?"

Most certainly but not for me

And who do you read now for relaxation?

Haruki Murakami
Umberto Ecco

You are clearly a talented illustrator - does your wife help with design?

Not directly.  She is a professional abstract painter : www.susanhaire.com She would not dream of doing children’s illustrations.  Of the 344 paintings comprising the 3 series she has not drawn a single line or painted a single colour.  On the other hand without her suggestions as to technique and her criticism of my efforts I would never have been able to develop my style.  Her standards are severe and only a few of my illustrations meet them, but I still find it amazing that I should be able to produce any painting which meets her approval.

Do you plan to switch to adult fiction?

No. At last I have found a form where I can address themes which are important to me (such as the battle between good and evil) but in a way which does not take itself too seriously.

Do you write at home or in chambers? (don't answer if this is a loaded question!)

I normally write in chambers, draw on the train or in chambers and paint at home.

With religion playing an important role in your family background were you ever tempted to go into the church?

As a teenager I would have questioned whether I should go into the church, but at the time I was so ambitious that if I had gone into the church I would have had to try to become the non-conformist equivalent of a bishop and that would have been rather missing the point.

Apart from writing, painting and the law, do you have any other interests or hobbies?

Gardening, in particular a 4.5 acre water meadow which I have planted with species roses which climb high into the trees. I was also at one time a fanatical collector of relief moulded jugs, but fortunately the 1991 recession cured me.

Do you see your future as a writer of children's stories or as a lawyer - or do you enjoy being a polymath?

I do not think of myself as a polymath, but simply as someone with a few rather extreme talents which are perhaps not often combined. I enjoy the intellectual stimulus of the Chancery bar, but ultimately it is not as satisfying as either writing or painting : if I were ever in the fortunate position of being to choose between the two I would chose the books. With artist and children to support I do not currently have any real choice.

If you could take 10 books to a Desert Island, which ones would you choose?

1. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the end of the World or almost any other book by Haruki Murakami
2. Foucault’s Pendulum Umberto Ecco
3. Silas Marne George Eliot
4. Wuthering heights Emily Bronte
5. Murder in the cathedral TS Eliot
6. Collected poems of Edward Thomas
7. The book of Job William Blake (Blake represents the finest combination of text and illustration)
8. Wind in the willows Kenneth Graeme
9. Steppenwolf Hermann hesse
10. A month in the country J.L.Carr (like me he set up his own “publishing house” in his home)
11. Revelations of divine Love Mother Julian of Norwich

Sorry that’s 11.

Are you working on another book at the moment?

The 4th series Seas of Ramion containing the stories The kingdom of the Deep, the Blizzard Wizard, Griselda and the mini-skulls and Boris and the Crash (the skull and the dim daft dwarves set up a punk band to try and escape the witch Griselda ( my tastes in music remain stuck in 60s and 70s rock whilst my wife has founded 2 early music choirs and a classical music festival).

And how about three tips for aspiring authors of children's stories?

Not really qualified to give tips but how about

1. Never speak down to your audience: it does not matter if a child does not understand every joke, every word or  every allusion
2. Write what children enjoy not what you would like them to enjoy
3. There is really no substitute for simply telling stories day after day or night after night until between you and your audience you create a magical new world, a joint creation

Back to the top