Profwriting

Juliet Trewellard’s first children’s book, Butterfingers, was published by David Fickling Books, part of the Random House group. Here she talks to Judy Heminsley about the risks she took in getting started as a full time writer.

How risky was it to start writing full-time?
It was definitely a risk, but I’ve always wanted to write. Originally I trained as an actress and acted in repertory theatre. I retrained as a teacher when I had my family and taught English and Theatre Studies while bringing up my family and caring for my elderly parents. But I do believe you have to take risks in life, so when the kids left home and my parents died, I took the chance and did it.

I had always written bits and pieces but now I was able to devote my time to writing, to sit down at my desk every morning and get disciplined about it, as you’re supposed to. I’ve been writing full-time for four years now – and it’s taken me four years to get published.

What was your lucky break?
I showed an old friend a children’s story I had written and she passed it on to Ian Beck, who has illustrated about 60 books. I got a phone call out of the blue from Ian, saying he was going to show it to one of his publishers, David Fickling.

It was a real leg-up, because it got me past the slush pile. David said he really liked my writing and he wanted me to write something to go with some pictures of Ian’s. He also put me in touch with one of the agents he knows, Hilary Delamere of The Agency. So I acquired an agent quite the opposite way round to most people.

The first version of Butterfingers was a poem written in blank verse, but that was no good because it was difficult to translate. David gave me great encouragement and came down to Cornwall twice to see me, which was really generous. He kept making suggestions – I was anti a lot of them at the time – and the book went through many embryonic stages. Eventually it was too long for a picture book and the colour illustrations would have been too expensive, so it became more text-oriented and with black and white illustrations in silhouette.

I think it’s a lot to do with timing. There are lots of children’s books around at the moment to do with poos and farts and ugly monsters. Butterfingers is based on a classic fairytale and there’s not much of that about.

How do you make a living?
“I still do examining work for A Level Theatre because I can’t afford to give it up. If I could make my annual teacher’s salary from writing, I would be really happy, but I’m nowhere near that at the moment. It’s hard going but I’m determined to make it work.”

I got only a small advance for Butterfingers because I was unknown. The book has been sold in four other countries though, in Spain, Italy, France and the US, so the foreign sales mean I get a bit more money each time. My American publishers have just told me I’m going to be featured on a book list sent to libraries and book shops over there, and I’m hoping that will help sales.

You’ve recently been to a literary festival – are you starstruck around well-known authors?
I’ve just been to the Oxford Literary Festival with Ian Beck, and I have to say I am still slightly in awe of established writers. There I was waiting in the green room with P.D. James and I thought to myself “Gosh, this is alright!” I really enjoyed it.

Has the pace slackened now the book is out?
I’m in a bit of a rush, actually. I’m working hard on my second novel which is for older children and is based on a real event, a massive blizzard in 1891 which cut the West Country off for five days. I heard about it years ago and it stayed with me. A Swedish boy, a sailor, escapes a shipwreck, and climbs up the cliff to a house where a girl is alone because her father is trapped in a train. It’s a mixture of Nordic myth and real life, with a love story thrown in.

I’m about a third of the way through and I’ve sent a synopsis and sample chapters to Hilary so she can send it to publishers. The rush is on because she wants samples of the adventure bits as well, before the Bologna Book Fair in two weeks time. And David wants a follow-up to Butterfingers.

Do you have any encouragement for other would-be professional writers?
That’s really hard. There is always someone in the audience at literary festivals who has written something and asks for advice. All I can say is “Keep doing it and getting it out there.” A couple of years ago I was short-listed for the Bridport Prize and it was very encouraging to get that recognition. Just keep at it!