Cantastic Guest Author: Tim Wynne-Jones

Today's guest is Tim Wynne-Jones, whose very first novel won a $50,000 prize in 1980.  Since then, he's written dozens of books, spanning all age ranges, and received countless more awards and honours.  Somewhere in there, he also found time to critique a short story of mine when I won a high school writing contest. 

 
LEC: Please describe your typical working day.

TWJ: When I'm working full tilt on a novel I try to get to work early, about 6:00 AM and work on through until noon, when I have lunch, with a coffee break along the way. Then I'll work another couple of hours or so in the afternoon, depending on how it's going. Sometimes I'm pooped by 2:00 PM, other times I can work another hour or two if the work is going well, but I seldom get beyond 4:00. If I do the writing gets worse and worse. I bring myself down to earth by washing dishes, which I love, and then cooking dinner, which I love even more. It grounds me.  

LEC: You've published books for every age group.  What is it about the YA category that appeals to you as a writer, and some of the advantages and disadvantages of writing for teens?

TWJ: Well, I'd sure like to figure out sixteen! It's such an incredible time in one's life, scary as hell and yet full of promise. If you could only convince yourself you were going to do half the things you dream of doing. I've sworn for years that my teenage life was Hell on Earth. But recently, I reacquainted myself with one of my best buddies from high school and he has the diaries and letters to belie my faulty memory. Apparently we did have some fun! Or maybe that's all he bothered to write about. Anyway, there's a sixteen-year-old skulking around inside me (occasionally bumping into my eleven-year-old self) and it's nice to talk to him down the tin can telephone of my old age.  

LEC: As well as writing your own books, you seem to take a lot of enjoyment from helping other writers learn and grow.  Did anyone provide this kind of mentorship for you when you started out?

TWJ: No. I knew no writers when I was starting out. At least not as mentors or writing friends. I did work for a publisher in the graphic design department so I met writers but not in the capacity of fellow writer. There were no writing circles, as far as I knew. So my great mentors were such people as Graham Greene and Richard Brautigan and Kurt Vonnegut -- the people I was reading at the time. The best way to learn how to write is to emulate someone you deeply admire.

LEC: Your books have received many awards throughout the years, but you've just become one of Canada's nominees for the 2012 Hans Christian Anderson Award - the "little Nobel".  What was your response when you heard the news?  

TWJ: I was blown away. The award is not well known to the general public but in our world it's pretty special. To be even mentioned in the same breath as people like Paula Fox,  Astrid Lindgren, Tove Jansson, Eleanor Farjeon, David Almond, or Maurice Sendak is already a great honour. 


LEC:  Describe your best moment as a writer - a memory or experience that keeps you going on days you feel like giving it all up.

TWJ: There have been many; I've been very lucky. I've had a chance to travel and do readings or teach in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, the United Kingdom and all over the United States. I've read in every province and territory and met wonderful people in all of these peregrinations. I've also been fortunate enough to win prizes and such. But do you know what the very best thing of all is -- the thing that keeps me going? It's that heady feeling you get when you've been wrestling with a new novel and it's been really hard slogging and then you get to a place where it's finally rolling along and you know you're going to be able to go the distance. That's what I love the most about being a writer. I love second drafts! I just live for them.   

LEC: Me too - they're so much better than first drafts!  What question have you always wanted to be asked about your work, but no one ever has?  What is the answer?

TWJ: I wish somebody would ask me if I meant everything I wrote. The answer is yes.



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For more about Tim and his books, check out his website.  And don't forget to enter for the giveaway - Tim's donated an autographed copy of Blink & Caution.