Quickfire The Company of Eight Q&A
The Company of Eight is full of
fascinating locations. Where in the Longest World would you want to live?
That
is such a difficult question as I slightly fall in love with wherever I am
writing about. I think, a bit like Cass,
I would like to be based in Minaris, as I have always wanted to live in a city
where you skate everywhere in the winter, but then I would also like to do a
bit of roaming too. To copy Cass, my
first adventure would be to the Islands, and I would definitely take in turtle
watching, star gazing and possibly an encounter with pirates. But then I think I would take a boat on to
The Furthest Lands and explore The Great
City of Pinging, known as City of Ladders because it is built on multiple
layers. And then, if I still had the
energy, head for a port to the west of Minaris called Pinoa, and explore the
mountainous countries to the north. And
finally return exhausted to Minaris to drink tea and Rimple’s with Mrs Potts!
The Longest World is full of
fascinating personalities: who is your favourite character, and who was your
favourite to write?
My
favourite character is Cass but the most fun to write is her guardian Mrs Potts
- she’s so deliciously awful - snobbish,
shallow and self seeking, but ultimately
she is proved to have a heart of gold as the book shows.
Cass can’t wait for all her future
exciting adventures with the Company: can you give us a hint as to where these
adventures might take her?
Well
I can tell you that it is not where she is expecting to go! She thinks that she is off to chase pirates
around the tropical Far Isles but she actually ends up as far away from that as
you can imagine.
Which would you rather: join the
Company of Eight, live on the Island of Women, practise acrobatics on the
Circus Ship, or be a fortune-teller in the Magical District? Why?
They
all sound like fun but it would definitely have to be joining The Company of
Eight - I have always wanted to be a sword fighter and am always googling adult
fencing classes for beginners but never actually pluck up the courage to go to
one.
The Company of Eight is an amazing
escapist fantasy adventure, but what kind of books do you like to read
personally?
I
do love fantasy and some of my all time favourite books are in that genre, like
The Earthsea Trilogy and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. But in general, I am quite an eclectic reader
and read a real hotch potch. The common
thread is often a personal recommendation as I’m always intrigued to see what
other people love reading.
