Author Interview with Jonathan Brough
I'm back with an interview with the author of Aaha! Racing to the Rescue — A Bear Trapped in Time. You can read my original post here including my book review and a guest post from the author.
I love astronomy, so I was very keen to read about this protagonist! Is astronomy a passion of yours? What made you include it?
Gosh- lots of reasons really! Partly there’s the whole sci-fi thing: the great unexplored space (literally!) where anything can happen: if black holes definitely exist and wormholes are theoretically possible, who’s to say that anything at all in the imagination isn’t possible- even a belligerent Starship Commander in a repurposed airport on the outskirts of London!
More practically, though, I worked as a primary school teacher for over 30 years and know all too well that children can understand complex topics more easily when they’re wrapped up in a story. So, whilst the novel is undoubtedly an accessible and fast-paced adventure, the reader will find out what they need to know about the Earth in Space at primary school too- all through osmosis and jokes!
Getting to the airport on time is always a bit of a mission. I really related to the experience in the book, especially getting up in the middle of the night! Was this how you remember childhood holidays, too?
We didn’t often fly abroad when I was little, although I do remember a certain middle-of-the-night escapade to what is now East Midlands Airport when I was about six. If my memories are to be trusted, we were going all the way to Guernsey… fortunately, though, I’ve been able to fly quite a lot during my adult life. Checking in on time, and then having to find ways to keep entertained during subsequent delays never seems to get any better though!
Can you tell me a bit about your writing process?
For me, it’s undoubtedly the idea generation that takes the time. I love love love A6-size hardback notebooks that fit into a trouser pocket, and I can fill them with emerging ideas as they slowly grow and mature. Then I plot everything really, really carefully into ten key plot points. By the time I’ve done all that, which sometimes takes months, the writing happens quite quickly because I don’t get stuck. Editing still takes a while, though, and I do it two full edits before I let work get anywhere near a publisher or industry professional. First, I edit the manuscript in the same text font and size that I used when I wrote it, then I deliberately change font, style and line spacing so that different parts of each sentence are in different places on the page- it’s amazing how many extra things I spot after that.
The end of the book had me feeling quite emotional. Did you plan to get your readers tearing up?
I’m glad the climax of the book had an impact on you as a reader! Whilst, of course, I don’t want to distress anyone, I do want to take the subject matter- that of realising responsibilities to younger siblings- seriously, and I need to show that the protagonist has learned from her experiences. I agree that there’s half a page or so when it seems like all is lost… and if the reader lives that alongside Aaha, I feel I must have done a good job… but of course there’s a happy ending when the time comes; this is middle-grade fiction after all!
Finally, I have to ask, what's your favourite cocktail?
Definitely a kir royale- all the fun of childhood blackcurrant cordial with the sophistication of champagne!
Thanks so much to Jonathan for those thoughtful, informative answers and here's how to make a Kir Royale for anyone intrigued! It's very simple but delicious.
Pour 15ml of crème de cassis into a champagne flute, then slowly top up with champagne or prosecco.
