Or should I say… ‘The UNBELIEVABLE’ James Harris. And what a treat this interview is. It’s ‘mint’, you guys will love it! So without further adooooooo…
First off, tell us a little about yourself…
I’m James, I’m from the North East of England and I write funny books that keep getting called “bonkers”. My first one is out in April and I couldn’t be more excited to see what people think of it! Other jimfacts: excellent at making mashed potato, really excellent at eating mashed potato, really terrible at working out how much mashed potato is too much mashed potato to eat in one go. (The answer is usually “five mouthfuls less than you just crammed into yourself, you plum!”)
What is your local bookshop and how can people find it?
My local independent bookshop is Drakes in Stockton, just off the high street. It’s a wonderfully friendly and cosy little book nook. Slightly further away, but no less lovely, is The Book Corner in Saltburn. Both shops are run by absolute stars who are passionate about books and reading.
Tell us all about your book ‘The Unbelievable Biscuit Factory’ and how biscuity is it exactly?
It’s all about Haddie, a girl who has to stand up and shout “SOMETHING IS WRONG HERE” when everyone else is ignoring the problem. It’s about mad science, and music, and friendship and standing up for what you believe in, and about how Haddie has to battle REALLY ANNOYING monsters and REALLY ANNOYING bus drivers so she can play the worst song anyone has ever written REALLY LOUDLY and save the world.
And it’s got amazing illustrations by Loretta Schauer, and it even has actual animations in it!
And it’s surprisingly unbiscuity! There’s precisely one biscuit in the whole book. Having said that, it’s a really good biscuit so hopefully a little goes a long way for biscuit fans. And if you want more biscuits in it you can always put them in yourself! A nice ginger thin will slide between the pages no bother.
What was your nickname at school? (If you had one)
I never had a nickname! I wish I did though. I would have liked to be called J-Dog or Jimmy Bananas or The Amazing Jimblini but I was just called “James” or “you there”.
Were you good at writing at school?
I enjoyed writing. I liked writing sketches or funny stories. I would make up my own comics and I would record little comedy shows on cassette tape and fill exercise books with nonsense drawings and jokes.
What was your favourite book as a child?
I fell in love with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams when I was quite young. I read and reread that book… it was so full of mad ideas, and oddball characters and funny, funny lines. That and a book of Dr Strange comics from the 1960s which were so full of weirdly magical images I could stare at them for hours.
What was it that inspired you to become a writer?
I’ve always been writing something – short films, sketches, shopping lists – but it’s only recently I decided to try writing a middle grade book. I couldn’t say why – it just seemed like a good idea at the time and now here we are!
What are common traps for aspiring writers?
To not write. You have to write! And keep writing! That’s all being a writer is, really. There’s no trick to it. Just write stuff as often as you can.
Maybe one trap is writing what you think you’re supposed to write. I would say write whatever you want to write, in whatever style you like. Write about things you love! Write to make yourself smile and chances are you’ll make other people smile too.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Don’t grow a mullet. Don’t worry about being whatever “successful” is, just be creative, do stuff that you love because you love it, and do it as much as you can and as well as you can, and enjoy it for its own sake. And I mean it about the mullet. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING, YOUNGER SELF!?
What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
I can’t pinpoint the exact moment, but discovering that certain sentences, if you put the words in exactly the right order and said them at exactly the right moment, could make people laugh… that’s a wonderful power.
What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
All my friends help me be a better writer. They inspire me, make me laugh and make me happy… they bring me joy and joy is what I need to recharge my writing batteries.
If you weren’t a writer, what would you be doing?
Writing 🙂 or thinking that I should be writing.
Has a book ever made you cry? What was it?
I can’t read books that deal with grief and loss. If books have “heartbreaking” or “gut punch” in the blurb I will avoid them because they leave me in tatters.
What is your writing Kryptonite?
If you mean “what can stop you from writing” the answer is “pretty much anything” – I am very easily distracted. And I write on a laptop which, when it’s connected to the internet, is a gateway to a neverending carnival of every wonderful distraction humanity has ever invented.
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
A copy of “Save the Cat” by Blake Snyder, a really good book about screenwriting structure. It’s so useful for taking the germ of an idea – like what if there was a Super-Secret Science Lab disguised as a biscuit factory that kept on going wrong and everybody kept ignoring the problem – and turning it into an actual story.
As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
I would choose a capybara wearing a t-shirt saying “stop looking at me and get writing!”
What does literary success look like to you?
I try to keep my expectations realistic, and in many ways just having a book be read and enjoyed would be enough, but on the other hand if The Unbelievable Biscuit Factory doesn’t win a Blue Peter prize, two Oscars and the FA Cup this year I’ll be very disappointed.
Do you Google yourself?
Mmmmmaybe. But it’s hard because there are an awful lot of James Harrises James Harrising around the place so I have to do a lot of scrolling past so many James Harrisy achievements which is in some ways inspiring – “Go you James Harrises” – but also a bit distracting as I start to dream of putting together a Legion of James Harrises and fighting crime with them. Or maybe we’d play volleyball. I haven’t worked out exactly what we’d do yet.
And most importantly… What is your favourite biscuit?
I usually say “Lemon puff” but the truth is it’s whichever biscuit is closest to my mouth at any given time. Every biscuit is beautiful and wonderful in its own way! (Apart from fig rolls which are some sort of cruel joke.)
It really was great to have you on James and thank you so much for coming on and also for admitting to having a mullet as a youngster! How young exactly were you and I think we need pics pronto.
If you want to follow James on the worldy widey web here are some extra places you can…
Website: theunbelievablejamesharris.com
Twitter: @James_D_Harris
And if you want to get your hands a copy of his book ‘The Unbelievable Biscuit Factory’ you can do that too…
Buy on Amazon
Buy on Bookshop.org (supports indie bookshops)
*If you are an author (or publisher who would like to introduce an author) and would like to do your own q&a, or something else, to feature on the blog then send me an email… It’s a great opportunity to wax lyrical about your work and do some shameless self-promotion.
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