The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Jon Mayhew - Revision history

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Sue: Created page with '{{infoboxinterviews |title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Jon Mayhew |reviewer=Robert James |summary=We loved The Demon Collector by Jon Mayhew, his follow-up to [[Mortlock …'

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Created page with '{{infoboxinterviews |title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Jon Mayhew |reviewer=Robert James |summary=We loved The Demon Collector by Jon Mayhew, his follow-up to [[Mortlock …'

New review

{{infoboxinterviews
|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Jon Mayhew
|reviewer=Robert James
|summary=We loved [[The Demon Collector by Jon Mayhew]], his follow-up to [[Mortlock by Jon Mayhew|Mortlock]]. We couldn't resist the opportunity to ask him some questions.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408803941</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1408803941</amazonus>
|date=20 February 2011

}}

We loved [[The Demon Collector by Jon Mayhew]], his follow-up to [[Mortlock by Jon Mayhew|Mortlock]]. We couldn't resist the opportunity to ask him some questions.

* '''Bookbag: When you close your eyes and imagine your readers, who do you see?'''

Jon Mayhew: I see a kind of conglomerate of my four children, they range in age from 10 to 17, boys and girls. I think I also see myself as a child too. But when I write, I tend to write for myself!

* '''BB: Which book would you recommend to people who enjoyed The Demon Collector while they're eagerly waiting for your next novel? '''

JM: [[Mortlock by Jon Mayhew|Mortlock]] if they haven't read it! But self-interest aside, Dead of Winter by [[:Category:Chris Priestley|Chris Priestley]] and his Tales of Terror series, The Black Book of Secrets and the others in [[:Category:F E Higgins|F E Higgins's]] series, Oh, anything by [[:Category:Marcus Sedgewick|Marcus Sedgewick]], [[The Dead (The Dark) by David Gatward|The Dead by David Gatward]] or The Bili SanGreal books by Sarwat Chadda.

* '''BB: Have you ever thought about collaborating with another author on a
novel? If so, who would be your dream writing partner? (Alive or dead, I'm feeling generous!)'''

JM: You're too kind! I'd love to brainstorm ideas with [[:category:David Almond|David Almond]] or [[:Category:Eoin Colfer|Eoin Colfer]]. I think Mr Colfer would be fun to work with. As would [[:Category:Marcus Sedgewick|Marcus Sedgewick]], I love [[White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick|White Crow]] and its modern interpretation of the Gothic. I suspect though that many writers are a bit like me in that they quite like to work alone, so it may not work. Writers from the past? They'd probably have me burnt at the stake for my heretical thoughts.

* '''BB: What advice would you give to authors just starting out?'''

JM: I'm wary of giving advice but I think the one thing I would say is write the book you'd love to read. Enjoy writing it. I could be wrong but I get the impression that if you try to write 'the next big thing' you'll spend half your life trying to second guess the markets and the other half miserable and not enjoying your writing. Pointless.

* '''BB: As a fellow massive folk music fan, I love the atmospheric lyrics
scattered throughout your two books so far. Any particular folk artists you'd recommend to your readers? And, if I can sneak in an extra question, do you listen to music when you write?'''

JM: An album called Castabell by a trio called 1651 had a huge influence on Mortlock, it's a dark and mysterious take on Playford's Dancing Master. It sends shivers down my spine. Alva's take on Long Lankin gives me bad dreams. A lot of Martin Carthy's music inspires me, his version of Scarborough Fair with Chris Wood and Roger Wilson (Wood Wilson and Carthy) was part of the inspiration for The Demon Collector. He actually makes the song sound sinister! I also love Faustus and Maclaine Colston and Saul Rose. In answer to the sneaky extra question is partly all of the above with a healthy dollop of The Sisters of Mercy, Hawkwind, Steppenwolf, The Pogues and the sound tracks to many, many horror films!

* '''BB: If you could ask any other author any question, what would you ask and
who would you ask it to?'''

JM: I would ask [[:Category:Louis Sachar|Louis Sachar]] how he plans his stories. There must be a secret to crafting such clever, twisty, turny plots that look so simple. Maybe it's just genius though!

* '''BB: Who's your favourite character in the Demon Collector?'''

JM: Hmm, could be Henry the Jack Russell (I have two myself) or maybe Slouch, the butler who is a demon of sloth and can't be bothered doing anything for the professors of the Royal Society of Daemonologie. I think I'd have to plump for Salome, the fun-loving demon-queen who's so unstable, giggly and lethal.

* '''BB: What are you reading now?'''

JM: The Thin Executioner by [[:Category:Darren Shan|Darren Shan]]. It's nice to read a standalone by Shan the man and I'm enjoying it!

*'''BB: Between [http://jonmayhem.blogspot.com/ Blogspot], your [http://www.jonmayhew.co.uk/ website], the [http://www.mortlockdemon.com/ Mortlock website] and [http://jonmayhem.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-gory-stories.html Gory Stories] you have an incredible web presence! How important do you think it is in this day and age for YA authors to communicate with their fans over the internet?'''

JM: I'm not sure that it's always important. I like to find out about and link up with authors and I know a lot of younger readers do too. But it doesn't always matter. F E Higgins keeps a very low internet profile but seems to be popular.

I like the connection the internet gives you with your readers. It's great to read a review on a blog and to find out it's been written by a 14 year old boy in Melbourne! I have a facebook fan page too but don't twitter as much as I'd like!

I also think it's a great vehicle for giving something back, hence the free Mortlock short stories between Jan 2011 and April 2011 downloadable from [http://www.mortlockdemon.com here].

* '''BB: What's next for Jon Mayhew?'''

JM: In the short term, a cup of tea and the news on TV. In the long term, the short stories are keeping me busy, Bloomsbury have created PDFs in the same font and layout as the Mortlock and Demon Collector books so it looks superb! Book 3 should be out in 2012 and, at the moment it's called ''The Bonehill Curse''. I don't think that'll change but it is sitting on my lovely editor's desk as I type! More of that in the future!

* '''BB: Ooh, excellent. We can't wait to see them. Thanks for the interview, Jon!'''

{{commentfeature}}

[[Category:Interviews|Mayhew, Jon]] [[Category:Jon Mayhew]]

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 JM: [[Mortlock by Jon Mayhew|Mortlock]] if they haven't read it! But self-interest aside, Dead of Winter by [[:Category:Chris Priestley|Chris Priestley]] and his Tales of Terror series, The Black Book of Secrets and the others in [[:Category:F E Higgins|F E Higgins's]] series, Oh, anything by [[:Category:Marcus Sedgwick|Marcus Sedgwick]], [[The Dead (The Dark) by David Gatward|The Dead by David Gatward]] or The Bili SanGreal books by Sarwat Chadda.
-* '''BB: Have you ever thought about collaborating with another author on a
+* '''BB: Have you ever thought about collaborating with another author on a novel? If so, who would be your dream writing partner? (Alive or dead, I'm feeling generous!)'''
 JM:  You're too kind! I'd love to brainstorm ideas with [[:category:David Almond|David Almond]] or [[:Category:Eoin Colfer|Eoin Colfer]]. I think Mr Colfer would be fun to work with. As would [[:Category:Marcus Sedgwick|Marcus Sedgwick]], I love [[White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick|White Crow]] and its modern interpretation of the Gothic. I suspect though that many writers are a bit like me in that they quite like to work alone, so it may not work.  Writers from the past? They'd probably have me burnt at the stake for my heretical thoughts.

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 |amazonus=<amazonus>1408803941</amazonus>
 |date=20 February 2011
 }}

@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 I also think it's a great vehicle for giving something back, hence the free Mortlock short stories between Jan 2011 and April 2011 downloadable from [http://www.mortlockdemon.com here].
 * '''BB: What's next for Jon Mayhew?'''
@@ Line 57: / Line 56: @@
 * '''BB: Ooh, excellent. We can't wait to see them. Thanks for the interview, Jon!'''
 {{commentfeature}}
 [[Category:Interviews|Mayhew, Jon]] [[Category:Jon Mayhew]]

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 JM: I'm wary of giving advice but I think the one thing I would say is write the book you'd love to read. Enjoy writing it. I could be wrong but I get the impression that if you try to write 'the next big thing' you'll spend half your life trying to second guess the markets and the other half miserable and not enjoying your writing. Pointless.
-* '''BB: As a fellow massive folk music fan, I love the atmospheric lyrics
+* '''BB: As a fellow massive folk music fan, I love the atmospheric lyrics scattered throughout your two books so far. Any particular folk artists you'd recommend to your readers? And, if I can sneak in an extra question, do you listen to music when you write?'''
 JM: An album called Castabell by a trio called 1651 had a huge influence on Mortlock, it's a dark and mysterious take on Playford's Dancing Master. It sends shivers down my spine. Alva's take on Long Lankin gives me bad dreams. A lot of Martin Carthy's music inspires me, his version of Scarborough Fair with Chris Wood and Roger Wilson (Wood Wilson and Carthy) was part of the inspiration for The Demon Collector. He actually makes the song sound sinister! I also love Faustus and Maclaine Colston and Saul Rose. In answer to the sneaky extra question is partly all of the above with a healthy dollop of The Sisters of Mercy, Hawkwind, Steppenwolf, The Pogues and the sound tracks to many, many horror films!
-* '''BB: If you could ask any other author any question, what would you ask and
+* '''BB: If you could ask any other author any question, what would you ask and who would you ask it to?'''
 JM: I would ask [[:Category:Louis Sachar|Louis Sachar]] how he plans his stories. There must be a secret to crafting such clever, twisty, turny plots that look so simple. Maybe it's just genius though!

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 * '''BB: Which book would you recommend to people who enjoyed The Demon Collector while they're eagerly waiting for your next novel? '''
-JM: [[Mortlock by Jon Mayhew|Mortlock]] if they haven't read it! But self-interest aside, Dead of Winter by [[:Category:Chris Priestley|Chris Priestley]] and his Tales of Terror series, The Black Book of Secrets and the others in [[:Category:F E Higgins|F E Higgins's]] series, Oh, anything by [[:Category:Marcus Sedgewick|Marcus Sedgewick]], [[The Dead (The Dark) by David Gatward|The Dead by David Gatward]] or The Bili SanGreal books by Sarwat Chadda.
+JM: [[Mortlock by Jon Mayhew|Mortlock]] if they haven't read it! But self-interest aside, Dead of Winter by [[:Category:Chris Priestley|Chris Priestley]] and his Tales of Terror series, The Black Book of Secrets and the others in [[:Category:F E Higgins|F E Higgins's]] series, Oh, anything by [[:Category:Marcus Sedgwick|Marcus Sedgwick]], [[The Dead (The Dark) by David Gatward|The Dead by David Gatward]] or The Bili SanGreal books by Sarwat Chadda.
 * '''BB: Have you ever thought about collaborating with another author on a
 novel? If so, who would be your dream writing partner? (Alive or dead, I'm feeling generous!)'''
-JM:  You're too kind! I'd love to brainstorm ideas with [[:category:David Almond|David Almond]] or [[:Category:Eoin Colfer|Eoin Colfer]]. I think Mr Colfer would be fun to work with. As would [[:Category:Marcus Sedgewick|Marcus Sedgewick]], I love [[White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick|White Crow]] and its modern interpretation of the Gothic. I suspect though that many writers are a bit like me in that they quite like to work alone, so it may not work.  Writers from the past? They'd probably have me burnt at the stake for my heretical thoughts.
+JM:  You're too kind! I'd love to brainstorm ideas with [[:category:David Almond|David Almond]] or [[:Category:Eoin Colfer|Eoin Colfer]]. I think Mr Colfer would be fun to work with. As would [[:Category:Marcus Sedgwick|Marcus Sedgwick]], I love [[White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick|White Crow]] and its modern interpretation of the Gothic. I suspect though that many writers are a bit like me in that they quite like to work alone, so it may not work.  Writers from the past? They'd probably have me burnt at the stake for my heretical thoughts.
 * '''BB: What advice would you give to authors just starting out?'''