Jeremy Strong has written over 100 books for children and was the winner of the Children's Book Award in 1997 for his hilarious story, The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog. Most importantly to me, however, that particular book triggered me to start writing. After reading The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog to my Year 4 class and hearing them roaring with laughter, I decided that I wanted to write funny stories too. And so, thanks to Jeremy Strong, my writing journey began.
This week, the Year 6 children at Annesley Primary School helped me to devise a list of tough questions to ask the great author, which he answered yesterday.
So, without further ado, let's begin...
Josh: When did you start writing stories?
Jeremy: Just like you, I started when I was about five or six. In fact, I've still got one somewhere that my mum kept for me. On the back, it says 'aged six and a quarter' and it was a story about Jason and the Argonauts. But when did I start writing books? A long time ago... in 1977 I got my first book published so it was written 43 years ago and I've been writing stories ever since.
Thalia: Why did you decide to be an author?
Jeremy: Because I like writing stories! I've always liked writing stories and, by the time I was nine, I was already thinking 'This is what I want to do when I grow up!' At that time, when I was in Year 3 or 4, I had a lovely teacher who made me feel that writing stories was something I could do quite well. She didn't say anything nice about my maths (can't understand why) but, by the time I left her class, I had decided that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. I didn't actually start doing it seriously until I was about 19/20 years old.
Matilda: What is the most difficult part of the writing process?
Jeremy: Great question! It's actually quite difficult to answer. You might have difficulty starting your story... on the other hand, some stories start very easily. Same with endings.
I tend to plan the story and I think about it an awful lot before actually writing and, even though I've done all that thinking and made lots of notes, I still sometimes get stuck in the middle. Sometimes I can get stuck for a week or longer and it gets really frustrating. But I do know that I will solve that problem eventually so it's just a question of sticking at it. Problems can come at any point.
One thing I do find frustrating is writing the very first few sentences. Beginnings are so important because, if I make that beginning boring, nobody is going to want to read the rest of the book!
The biggest problem with writing a story is that, in your head, you often have this fantastic idea – it is sooo cool, it is sooo brilliant! – and then you try to write it down and it turns into sludge and mud and it dribbles off the edge of the page and falls out the back of your laptop. Making the story on paper as good as the story in your head is the trick. It's the one thing you have to get right. And that can be a struggle. The more you practise, the better you get.
Shaylen: What is it like being an author?
Jeremy: I think I'm one of the luckiest people on the planet because this is something I've wanted to do since I was aged nine. But I have to warn you that if you actually want to make a living by writing stories, that is actually very, very hard. And you need a bit of luck along the way. I have been lucky; I used to teach because I wasn't making enough money from my stories. I'm lucky that my books became pretty popular so I don't have to do any other kind of work. I sit at home and make things up... and I get paid. That's quite a good result, really.
Connor: What was your first book? How long did it take you to write?
Jeremy: I wrote stories for five years before getting anything published at all. Then I got a story for a picture book called Smith's Tail about cat with a very, very long tail. It didn't take me long to write because it was quite a short story but it took a lot of work afterwards to make it good enough to publish. It took me three or four days to write the story. But most of my books now – like my latest book Armadillo and Hare and the Very Noisy Bear – take me at least two months to write, probably a bit longer than that.
Amelia: What keeps you going when writing? Chocolate?
Jeremy: Yes, of course, chocolate... and more chocolate. In the evening, I might have a glass of wine. But mostly, it's just sitting there and getting on with it, knowing that once I've started, I know that I'll get to the end eventually. Once I've started, I just keep going.
Molly: Who inspires you to write books?
Jeremy: Nobody in particular. I get inspired by ideas and, of course, ideas might come from other people or things that I've seen. And bank statements. When my bank statement says, 'You haven't got any money left,' I think, 'Oh dear, I better write another story.'
Wouldn't it be nice if you got paid for writing stories in school? I think that would be pretty cool. If I ever see somebody important at the Ministry of Education, I'll suggest it to them. They won't take any notice but I'll suggest it to them.
Cyrah-Leigh: What was your favourite book as a child?
Jeremy: It was story called 'Winky the Squirrel'. There was a lovely picture in the book of Winky eating a digestive biscuit, nibbling round the edges. The biscuit gets smaller and smaller until there's no biscuit left. I used to do that. I would be Winky the Squirrel, eating biscuits.
It used to drive my parents up the wall, my dad would say, "Will you stop playing with your food?"
And I'd say, "But Dad, I'm Winky the Squirrel."
And my dad would say, "You can't be Winky the Squirrel any more, you're 17 years old!"
Amy-Jaye: Which is your favourite of your books?
Jeremy: I've about 112 stories published so I've got a lot to choose from! The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog is one of my favourites. Doctor Bonkers, that's another. Invasion of the Christmas Puddings – I hate Christmas puddings, which is why I wrote the book. The Famous Bottom stories. Krazy Kow saves the World – that's one of my favourites. And at the moment, I'm very fond of Armadillo and Hare – there's going to be a third one of these, which I'm working on at the moment.
Lara: Are there any of your books that you are not proud of?
Jeremy: There are certainly some that aren't as good as the others. There was one I wrote called Star Bike and I wasn't too impressed with myself. It was about a talking bicycle. There was a series on TV with a talking car with David Hasselhoff and that gave me the idea.
Harley: What is your best-selling book?
Jeremy: Probably The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog. It won an important award and it went on to become a Best Seller. My Brother's Famous Bottom has sold pretty well too.
Mr Eccleston (age 41): Do you have a special room for writing?
Jeremy: I do. A shed at the bottom of the garden. A rather lovely shed. There's room inside for a desk that's probably as big as a bed, bookshelves, pictures, my fridge. It's a lovely, quiet place. It's a warm place, where I know I'm not going to be disturbed. And that's the most important thing.
Mr Brown (age 31): Is Streaker based on a real dog?
Jeremy: Most definitely. She was based on a friend's dog called Molly. I had to look after her once and Molly was hopeless. She could run like the wind but she didn't know what her name was. She didn't know any commands whatsoever, so it was very annoying to have to take her for a walk because she would take ages to come back. While I was watching her one day, I thought maybe I could write a story about a dog that can run like the wind but is a bag-full of trouble... but still rather lovable.
Miss Geeson (age 53): What's your favourite biscuit?
Jeremy: Dark chocolate digestive.
Alexia: Are you still writing books?
Jeremy: Yes, I am. I'm just about to story work on the third Armadillo and Hare book, which is going to be called Armadillo and Hare and the Flamingo Affair.
Jayden: Do you visit schools?
Jeremy: I do visit schools. I work through an agency called Speaking of Books and they can tell you how to arrange a school visit.
Ellie: What sort of car do you have?
Jeremy: I have got a Lambourghini... but it has been cunningly disguised as a Honda CR-V. If you took a Mini and pumped it up with a bicycle pump for 15 minutes, it would be about the size of a Honda CR-V.
Mr Brown (age 31): Would you rather fight a horse-sized duck or a hundred duck-sized horses?
Jeremy: The horse-sized duck because you've only got one target. But with a hundred duck-sized horses, while you're dealing with one of them, you've got 99 others who could be doing anything. They could be nibbling your ankles, they could be throwing themselves beak -first at your head. So it would have to be a horse-sized duck. I would throw something at it, to distract it (maybe my cat... or dog... or maybe an armchair), and then I'd run in the opposite direction as fast as I could... and climb a tree. Because, if the duck was horse-sized, it wouldn't be able to fly through the branches.
The Big Quiz: Daniel Henshaw vs Jeremy Strong!!!
Two children's authors. Three tricky questions. Who will come out on top?
Question 1: As a children's author, can you estimate how many copies of Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone have been sold worldwide?
Jeremy: Lot and lots and lots. Millions!
Daniel: I'm thinking 100 million but it sounds way too many so I'll say 50 million.
Jeremy: Less than 50 million. About... 38,462,108.
Correct Answer: 120 million +
Who was closest? Neither were close but Daniel Henshaw just edges it.
Question 2: You have a book called the Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog. But what is the actual top speed of a greyhound (in mph)?
Jeremy: The speed of a greyhound is about 30 mph (petrol version) and 26 mph (diesel).
Daniel: 65 mph
Correct Answer: 45 mph
Who was closest? Jeremy Strong (just!)
Question 3: We understand that Jeremy now spends much of his time in Turkey. What is the population of Turkey?
Jeremy: The population of Turkey is about 72 million, just a little more than the UK but Turkey is about 4 times the size of UK. I am in a village of about 200 people, but villages in Turkey are much more spread out than in UK. Houses are mostly small and dotted about.
Daniel: 80 million
Correct Answer: A number of sources put the population of Turkey (in June 2020) at more than 83 million. Who was closest? Despite the lovely, detailed answer from Jeremy Strong, Daniel Henshaw is actually closer.
And the winner is... Daniel Henshaw!
Many thanks to Jeremy Strong for taking the time to answer our questions.
Jeremy Strong is the author of more than 100 books, including the Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog series, the My Brother's Famous Bottom series and his brilliant new Armadillo and Hare books.
Keep up to date with Jeremy on his website or on Twitter @JstrongJeremy.
For School Visits, please contact Speaking of Books.
Thanks for reading. My name is Daniel Henshaw and I'm the author of four books, including The Great Snail Robbery and my humorous new spook-fest, Glenkilly.
To join my MAILING LIST, simply click this link and enter your email address.
Comments