Fairies, Zombies and a pinch of Chaos!

10 hours ago

8 min read

I was thrilled when Charlotte Winstone (Senior Publicity Manager at HarperCollins Children's) asked me if I'd like to host a Q&A with John Condon. My readers and I have had a wonderful time reading about fairies, and before that, about dragons, as he, along with illustrator Patrick Corrigan, imagine them. Now we get some exciting insights into the inspirations, the story and Jon's own childhood dreams of being a superhero zombie chaser...! Read on for more after Jon's response to my message at the start of the Q&A.

Hello Louise, Thank you so much for these questions. I'm delighted you and your young readers have enjoyed both books. I’m especially delighted to hear the children enjoyed spotting Patrick's little background details. Watching children discover things that aren't even mentioned in the text is one of the real joys of creating picture books. Here are my answers…

How did the idea of this book and, I want to call it a series, come to you? How did you choose the characters – dragons and fairies? What do you think is the appeal? I'd love to call it a series too, and hopefully it will become one. It started with a suspicion more than a plan. I thought this could work as a series if HarperCollins wanted it to, and the way to prove that was to write more than one, so I did. The dragon book came first, but it began life as something quite different. It was originally a counting story built on “Ten Green Bottles” from my childhood, retooled into “Ten Small Dragons.”

Then, just before it went out on submission, a book with almost exactly that concept and almost exactly that title was announced, so I had to scrap it. I sulked for a little while, as you do, and then realised the counting structure had been holding the characters back. Once I let go of it, the dragons were free to have a lot more fun, and the whole thing opened up. As for why it appeals, I hope it's because it reflects a young child's own view of the world back at them, even if only in small ways and on certain days. The appeal is simply unadulterated fun, with no lesson bolted on underneath.

How did you narrow down the choice of antics to feature in the story? That's a really good question. For both books I had more antics than I had spreads, so I did have to choose, but usually the decision made itself. With the dragons, one of the spare antics was already a bit too close to one I definitely wanted to keep, so out it went. It was slightly different for the fairies, because there the antics were tied to locations in and around the house. An already messy garage, for instance, lost its place to the garden scene. A cellar was considered too, and a garden shed, a sibling's bedroom, a play room. In the end, though, I think I landed on the right balance and the right range of rooms.

My young readers (age 4/5) loved all the extra details on each page. Lots of that comes from the illustration. As author, especially with picturebooks where every word counts, do you find yourself writing to help the illustrator too? Another excellent question. I do, in a couple of ways. I try to write so the reader has room to spread their own creative wings, which means not dictating everything by spelling it all out in the text. That said, I'm also known for writing detailed illustration notes. Those are really more for the editors, so that if I'm not there to talk the story through, they can at least see what I saw when I was writing it.

The notes can be ignored entirely, but sometimes an editor likes to pass them to the illustrator for the same reason, to get them inside my head and understand the intent, if not the art direction. The illustrators always do their own thing, of course. Sometimes it reflects what I imagined, and sometimes it doesn't, but it never fails to surprise and amaze me. I've been very lucky with the talented illustrators I've worked with, Patrick very much among them. Although, truthfully, luck has little to do with it. It's down to the wonderful publishers, who have picked the perfect illustrator for my books time and time again. That's not luck at all. And it doesn't stop there, because they also combine the words and the pictures into a gorgeous, flowing book, and for that I'd like to thank Candice Turvey and her team.

Your fairies are well-intentioned but not very helpful in the end! Did you want readers to understand that it's good to be helpful / want to help even if you aren't all that good at it?

There's no moralising in it. It's really just a reflection of small characters enjoying their day. Yes, they make a mess, but they don't do it deliberately, and there's every chance the next day starts with a bit of tidying up. That wouldn't make for a very exciting story though, so I leave it to the reader's imagination. If a parent wants to have that conversation about the mess afterwards, the opportunity is right there, and I think that's a good thing. But it isn't hardwired into the book. I'd rather the story just be fun, and let any discussion grow out of it naturally rather than the other way round.

Fairies feature in all manner of stories. Did you choose them as familiar characters or were there other drivers? What do you like the most about stories with fairies - any favourites? Honestly, fairies weren't all that familiar to me as a child. I don't remember many picture books from back then, other than a few illustrated fables we had. What drew me in came later. I got properly into the more folkloric versions of fairies, and all their varieties, through a book written and illustrated by the father of a friend of mine and her godfather. Both are well-known creators of fantasy worlds full of elves, sprites, pixies and fairies.

Another book illustrated by her godfather actually had my friend in it, posing as one of the characters. Ever since then, fairies in various forms have found their way into my story ideas. What I especially loved about the folkloric versions was that they weren't simply kind or naughty. They were playful, mischievous creatures who delighted in turning ordinary days upside down, and that felt like exactly the right spirit for this story. This book is a more traditional take on them, but it was simply one of those ideas finally getting its turn.

Have you included more than one fairy in the story to showcase different talents and skills – to encourage an understanding of collaboration or for other reasons? It's the same reason there were multiple dragons, and the same reason there'll be multiple monsters if they ever turn up. More than one character lets you show different personalities, different interests, different ideas, all coming from within a friendship group that's enjoying the same moment together, each in their own slightly different way. But the most important word there is together. That's really the heart of it.

Have you ever wanted to have your own fairy or some of their abilities, or were you, as a young reader, drawn to a different type of story? I was far more likely to want superpowers than fairy powers. My friends and I used to play that game, the one where you get three wishes but you're not allowed to wish for more wishes, and I'm fairly sure I just wished for superpowers every time. Flying was always high on the list. And I did manage it, once, in the only lucid dream I've ever had. I was fighting off a zombie horde, which was fairly standard material for me at the time, when I suddenly realised I was dreaming.

I worked out that meant I could do whatever I liked, so I took off and flew the full length of Kilburn High Road, near where I lived then. This was long before Google Earth or street maps, and I could see all the buildings I knew, from a viewpoint I'd never seen before, completely invented by my own mind, and utterly realistic. It was the most amazing dream I've ever had. It's stayed with me for years, and like the fairies, it's fed into certain stories. Not least one I sent my editor only this week. Keep your eyes peeled.

Would you like the fairies to be living in your attic and helping with the tidy up, or are there other magical beings you'd want as helpers? I certainly would love some tidying fairies in my attic, but perhaps not these exact ones. They have wonderful intentions, but their tidying skills aren't quite up to scratch just yet. A bit more practice, in someone else's house, and I might reconsider inviting them into mine.

Should any readers want to find some fairies who'd like to do some helpful tidying or any other tasks, where do you suggest they look for them? The best place to look for tidying fairies is probably not too far from where you're reading this right now. Better still, if you start the tidying yourself (and if you made the mess, it's only fair), you never know, someone might join in to help. So while you're putting your toys and books away, keep an eye peeled for sparkles and giggles.

What has been your favourite part of creating these books so far, and do you know how many books there will be? The favourite part so far has probably been the freedom of it, once I'd let go of that counting structure. Being able to just follow small characters through a day of chaos is a joy to write. I played around with a few alternatives, one of which became a possible third book, but the fairies seemed to want me to write them. That one came together quite quickly. Not in an afternoon, mind you, there was plenty of back and forth with my wonderful editor Holly Tonks, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable process. And having seen what Patrick did with the first book, I couldn't wait to see what fun he'd have with the second.

He certainly didn't disappoint. As for how many there'll be, it's genuinely open. There are three written now, though the third was really written to prove to myself I could keep the idea going if I was ever asked to. As yet, I haven’t been. Beyond that it depends, as these things always do, on whether readers want more. I very much hope they do.

When you aren't writing about magical and fairytale creatures who cause chaos, are you causing your own? What, if you can share, is your favourite type of chaos? What a great question. We're small-holding farmers of a sort these days. The garden is part allotment, part chicken farm, and chickens are a wonderful kind of chaos to have. We've had ours since they were chicks, so they're very comfortable around us, but the moment you let them out of the pen to roam the garden they scatter and flap and cackle in every direction. It's so funny to watch. And then rounding them all up again later is its own second helping of chaos. That's about my speed of mayhem these days.