This week's honorary dragon is the bungee-jumping, sky-diving Nigel McDowell. Nigel was born and raised in rural Northern Ireland, and now lives in London. "My debut novel, Tall Tales from Pitch End, was published by the wonderful Hot Key Books in June 2013. The only other thing that needs knowing about me: I am obsessed with fairytales and folktales."

Nigel's new novel, The Black North, comes out next week on the 5th of June. A dark fantasy adventure, set in a land called the Divided Isle where a military force has invaded with an army of magical creatures, it tells the tale of Oona Kavanagh, who sets off to rescue her brother after he is kidnapped by the Invaders and their Briar-Witches. She has with her a rather grumpy talking jackdaw (that transforms at times into a rather grumpy old woman) and a magical stone of tremendous power: it reveals truth, nightmares, and can bring into being anything the holder can imagine... and this stone is the one thing the Invaders and their King are desperate to possess.

1) Uh oh, it’s the zombie apocalypse. Which author (living or dead) do you want riding shotgun?

Hmmm...someone who knows those scenarios well – Charlie Higson maybe? Darren Shan? Stephen King? Or perhaps someone I’d love to see with a shotgun, blowing zombies to bloody bits: Virginia Woolf.

2) Look, I got a time machine on eBay! Where do you want to go? (Said time machine may possibly malfunction and leave you there. Possibly. It was *very* cheap.)

The Paris of Joyce and Hemingway and Wilde. Red wine and writing – what could be better!

3) What’s your favourite thing about writing for kids?

They are the best audience, simple as that. Honest, critical, passionate, sharp. And I feel very lucky to be read and criticized and (hopefully!) enjoyed by such a special readership.

4) A witch has cast a spell on you (sorry about that) and you’ve woken up as a character in a children’s book – what’s your special talent or power?

Teleportation. Could see loved ones any time I wanted, no matter where they were and even for a moment. Could see the world on a whim! (And save a lot of money in the process).

5) What’s the scariest or strangest thing you’ve ever done?

I did a number of scary-strange things when I was travelling in New Zealand: jumping out of a plane and off a bridge were two that leap to mind (and leave me sweaty-palmed with the recollection!). I should say that I had a parachute on when I leapt from the plane and a bungee around my ankles when I threw myself off the bridge.

6) What’s something you wish you’d known about writing when you started out?

Patience! I wish I’d known patience. A plot can emerge slowly, the shape of story showing itself only with time, characters creeping tentatively out of their shells. It’s a trick to learn how to wait... and wait and wait. And then some very exciting things can start to happen...

What’s something you wish you’d known about publishing?

Something similar to that writing lesson – that things can seem to happen slowly, and then suddenly all at once. And that after everything – marketing, sales, Twitter, blogging, likes on your Facebook page, reviews, Amazon ratings – what matters most is the writing.


7) What would your daemon be?

I’d like to think it would be something so very flattering and exciting, wise and watchful! But, as Pullman tells us, we don’t always get the daemon we want. So who knows – probably a shivering Chihuahua!


8) My books don’t have dragons, but they do have... clockwork cats and jackdaws that transform into old ladies.

Oh I would pay good money to see Virginia Woolf fighting off zombies with a shotgun :) Find out more about Nigel and his books on his website and chat to him on Twitter. 

This week am delighted to welcome the funny and brave (scroll down to see why, but it involves leeches! gah!) Elen Caldecott, who writes contemporary fiction for 8-12s from her sofa in Bristol. She is watched by her dog Biff, who suggests a walk whenever the writing is going badly. Her latest book, The Great Ice Cream Heist, is set in Biff's favourite park. The hero, Eva, has to decide just how far she's willing to go to rescue a friendship - stealing ice cream isn't out of the question.

1) Uh oh, it’s the zombie apocalypse. Which author (living or dead) do you want riding shotgun? 

Do I go practical (Charlie Higson or Darren Shan both have experience) or pleasure (if I have to baracade myself in a 10th floor flat and drink water from the loo with them, I'm going to need to enjoy their company). Actually, Charlie Higson is pretty funny, isn't he? Higson it is.

2) Look, I got a time machine on eBay! Where do you want to go? (Said time machine may possibly malfunction and leave you there. Possibly. It was *very* cheap.) 

eBay's a contemporary wonder of the world, isn't it? No question this time, its Europe 410AD. Why such a specific date? Well, that's the more-or-less official end of Roman Britain, the beginning of the Dark Ages. I'd want to go and shine a ruddy great torch on the Dark Ages. What was happening? Why? What was it like for the people? Then, I'd come back and write a book about it. And if the machine doesn't bring me back, then I'll just learn Latin (or German) and lump it.

3) What’s your favourite thing about writing for kids? 

Short books! (joke!) (not a joke). I like the range of possibilities. If you want to write more than one genre, you can, by writing for different age groups. You're not tied to one thing. Also, your audience is always changing (as kids grow up!) so you have to stay on your toes. I like the challenge of writing for an audience whose culture isn't my own.

4) A witch has cast a spell on you (sorry about that) and you’ve woken up as a character in a children’s book – what’s your special talent or power? 

I'd own a TARDIS. I trained as an archaeologist and time travel would be my number one special skill.

5) What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done? 

I lived in Melbourne for a year (that isn't the scariest thing, don't worry!) and I did a lot of walking. I crossed the Overland Track in Tasmania. It has no roads, no shops, no phone signal. It takes 7 days to cross and you have to carry everything you'll need in a backpack - all your food, camping equipment, first aid... If you don't walk fast enough, you might run out of food... Also, there were LOTS of leeches. It got so that I didn't mind them on my body, but I was very worried about getting one on my eyeball...

6) What’s something you wish you’d known about writing when you started out? What’s something you wish you’d known about publishing? 

I wish that I had known that writing and editing are two different things. I used to panic when I realised my first draft was terrible. Now I expect it to be, that's what editing is for. And the one thing I wish I'd known about publishing? Maybe that it's a job like any other. You don't feel that your whole life is over if you have a bad review at work, and you shouldn't feel that way if you get a bad review as a writer.

7) What would your daemon be? 

A dog. No question (Biff already thinks she's it).

8) My books don’t have dragons, but they do have... ordinary children being very brave and seeking adventures.

Ah, short books. You're not wrong. xD If you'd like to find out more about (a hopefully leech-free) Elen and her books, check out her website and Facebook page, and follow her on Twitter.

That is, *normally* I shine a light on a middle-grade author. But this week I have a special one-off YA guest, Kat Ellis, author of the creepy and mysterious Blackfin Sky. We'll let her off since she's an honorary dragon already by virtue of being Welsh ;) Oh and because she's super-talented and cracks good jokes.

You'll usually find Kat up to no good on Twitter, taking photographs in cemeteries, or watching scary films with her husband and feral cat. Blackfin Sky is her first novel, about a girl who falls from Blackfin Pier on the night of her birthday and drowns… only to show up at school three months later as though nothing happened. It will be published in the UK on 14th May (tomorrow!) by Firefly Press, and in the US in September by Running Press Teen.

1) Uh oh, it’s the zombie apocalypse. Which author (living or dead) do you want riding shotgun?

Definitely Michael Grant. He knows how to write brilliant apocalyptic stuff, and I reckon he can throw a mean punch.

2) Look, I got a time machine on eBay! Where do you want to go? (Said time machine may possibly malfunction and leave you there. Possibly. It was *very* cheap.)

Oh, I’m all about the future - in the most geeky, uncool way. Stick me in a Starfleet uniform and send me where no-one has gone before! (Boldly or otherwise.)

3) What’s your favourite thing about writing for teens?

Being a teen, you’re on the cusp of everything – leaving school, moving out on your own, finding out what you’re going to be, having real adventures in life. And ANYTHING is possible. How can that not be the most exciting thing to write about? And the most exciting people to write for?

4) A witch has cast a spell on you (sorry about that) and you’ve woken up as a character in a YA book – what’s your special talent or power?

While I’m tempted to say ‘kicking witchy asses’ is my special power, it would probably be more practical to come up with something that will be useful longer-term. So… the ability to make stuff float. I reckon I could make some serious dough doing that. Have my own TV show and shiz. Like Dynamo.

5) What’s the scariest or strangest thing you’ve ever done?

I once cemented up my dad’s air bricks (the holey ones that let the house breathe or whatever) because I was bored, and had to face The Wrath of Dad. This was not long after I accidentally set his bin on fire in the living room, so it was especially wrathy.

6) What’s something you wish you’d known about publishing when you started out?

The publishing business seems to work on a cycle of “Do everything NOW NOW NOW! And now waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiitttt… and do more things NOW NOW NOW!” Stoppy-starty, if you will.

I wish I’d known sooner that there would be these lulls, so that I could cram them full of writing time, and leave myself a bit less manic during the NOW NOW NOW times.

7) What would your daemon be?

My cat, Pilot. He’s appropriately evil, and possibly the biggest domestic cat that ever lived. The neighbour’s dog is scared of him.

8) My book doesn’t have dragons, but it does have... a haunted weathervane, a creepy mime, and a circus in the woods.

Well we may differ on who the most exciting readers to write for are, but Kat is spot on about the stop-startiness of publishing :) To find out more about Kat and her books, stop by her blog, website, Tumblr, Twitter or Goodreads page.