AUTHOR PROFILE
Full Names: Stuart McLean Macfarlane / Linda Macfarlane
Date of Birth: 04/03/1952 / 29/09/1953
Likes: I ‘enjoy’ jogging. In April 2007 I reached the right level of insanity to enter the London Marathon – since then I have completed a further five – raising money for Hope for Children. Linda does the occasional 10k race – but mainly as training for running around shoe shops. In June 2008 we both put on fancy dress costumes to walk around Edinburgh at midnight on the Moonwalk to raise money for Cancer Research.
We both love the tiny island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland and run away there whenever we get the chance.
Dislikes: Just like Simon in Medusa Island, I hate wasting time. Standing in queues and waiting at traffic lights drives me bananas. As Simon says, “Look after the seconds and the hours will look after themselves.”
Favourite author: I've got so many favourites but my favourite favourites are Lewis Carroll, A.A. Milne, Frances Burnett and Linda Macfarlane of course! Linda likes reading children’s books. She pretends it’s to keep up to date with what her pupils are reading but it’s really just because she likes them.
Favourite book of all time: I love illustrated children's books. I have an old copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland illustrated by Arthur Rackham - which is just amazing. Of recently published books, “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” by John Boyne is an absolute must read – and go see the film too. Linda’s favourite is The Woodland Gospels According to Captain Beaky and His Band by Jeremy Lloyd and Graham Percy
KB: What do you like best about writing together?
SLM: Being able to share something that we are passionate about . . . and long car journeys just fly by when we are discussing book ideas.
KB: Have either of you ever thought about producing a solo effort
SLM: For some of our humour books such as “The Little Book of Stress” and “Utterly Adorable Cats” we worked on ideas separately then get together to edit our work. But it’s unlikely we’d produce anything separately as we like working together so much.
KB: How is Medusa's Island different from your earlier titles?
SLM: Our previous novel “The Secret Diary of Adrian Cat” was written as a diary. Because of this the story had to be told in 365 short time slots. In a way this sounds like a simpler format of writing but in reality it was quite difficult to ensure there was continuity and flow. Medusa Island is in the more conventional style of story telling but contains a lot of our off-the-wall humour (such as Mrs. Wanabea Fairleywelthy’s pink-leather sofa).
KB: Was the writing process different too?
SLM: In some ways it was - in Medusa Island there are three main characters, Simon, Ross and Melissa (who has been turned into Medusa, with wriggling snakes in her hair.) As we wrote the book and got to know the characters, we spent a lot of time giving them unique voices and identities – Simon thinks he’s the leader and often makes the decisions – Ross is smart and comes up with good ideas and Melissa is very determined and courageous – except for her fear of mice.
KB: Have you always been interested in Greek mythology?
SLM: All myths fascinate me – I love the idea of these stories being told over and over again and passed down through the generations. I have built up a nice little collection of books on myths and legends and love browsing through them.
KB: Of all the monsters in the book, I enjoyed Mr. McRoast, the chimera, the best. Which is your favourite monster and why?
SLM: When you’re writing about characters (even monsters) over a long period you get very attached to them. I have three favourites from the book: the Nine-Headed-Hydra (for the dialogue between the heads), the three Harpies (they’re so gruesome) and of course Mr McRoast (he’s got three heads and they can never agree on anything).
KB: Are any of the characters based on anyone you know?
SLM: No – however a friend’s son was the first youngster to read the story before it was published, so we used his name for one of the minor characters. He thought it great fun to see his name in a book. He's been promised that if the book gets turned into a movie he'll be allowed to play himself in it.
KB: The chapter titles are quite revealing. What effect were you trying to create?
SLM: We were trying to get a bit of humour into the titles rather than just a dry, Chapter 1 – “The Beginning”, Chapter 2 – “The Middle Bit” and so on.
KB: This is your first children's book. Has it been well received by its intended audience?
SLM: It's early days yet but the feedback we have had so far has been very encouraging.
KB: Do you think you will write more children's books? How about a follow-up to Medusa's Island?
SLM: We are currently working on a novel entitled Robo~Child for twelve to sixteen year olds and have another myth based story, The Pelican Prophesy, based on Greek mythology, is on the back burner.
KB: You've had 20 books published in the last decade. What advice would you give to young aspiring authors?
SLM: If you love writing, write and write and write and write - the more you practice the better you will become.
Don’t be put off by rejection letters - unless you are extremely talented and exceedingly lucky you will get lots of them from agents and publishers.Don’t let such trivia dampen your spirit for writing or your resolve to get published.
It’s going to be hard work but it’s worth it in the end.
You can read a review of Medusa Island Here.