I’ve only been able to find very brief biographical material about you from the internet and from your books, so I hope you can fill out the biography for me a bit! A bit of background about you growing up; siblings, parents, was it a book household? Childhood reading? When did you start writing? That sort of thing. I know you trained as a teacher but I gather you never taught. I’ve read variously that you worked for a children’s magazine and a publisher (the brief bio in some of the OUP books refers to you writing “children’s partworks” — I confess I have no idea what that means!).

The intention of the bio stuff is to introduce you to the readers, many of whom may not have come across your books, and to give some background as to what led you to writing for children.

I should also add that I generally prefer, in a face to face interview, to basically sit down and have a chat, rather than a strict q&a session. I hope to replicate that atmosphere as much as possible by email; so some of what is to follow are observations that I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on, rather than strict questions.

Now, on to the books themselves!

First of all, your re-tellings. I’ve worked as a bookseller in the past and your re-tellings of fairy tales, mythology and so on were always the first I’d recommend; you seem to have a rare ability to “get under the skin” of the tales you choose to retell. I wonder if you can explain or comment on this apparent affinity you have for these stories. Conversely, has a re-telling ever “defeated” you?

I’m interested; what draws you to re-tell traditional tales, what draws you to re-tell the “classics” (Moby Dick, Pilgrim’s Progress etc)? How do you select which tales to include in a selection, for instance?

How important is it to pass these stories on to successive generations?

Have you tried to write an original fairy tale or myth, or attempted the heroic mode in your original fiction?

Your own fiction:
The most striking thing about your novels is the incredible diversity of subject matter, genre, period… ancient China, the American West, English B&Bs, 18th century pirates, South America, mediaeval England… I wonder if you could comment on this “range” — do you travel much?! This is not a flippant question; I am not aware of another author who writes so diversely; you’re impossible to pigeonhole. Short of asking “where do you get your ideas”, I’d really love you to comment on how these stories come to you; is there a common starting point for you? Is it an image, a character, a voice, some fascinating thing you read about that you have to explore further?

I have some thoughts about what your novels do share in common, despite the fact that superficially they appear to be worlds apart (literally!), but I wonder if you have any thoughts on this. Is there a particular experience of being human that your books explore, engage with?

You write on a broad emotional palette; events and predicaments are dire, the emotions profound. Is your use of the ingenue character (Mel, Haoyou) a way of, as it were, getting away with this? A reader might describe the pallette you choose to write on as "daring". Do you experience it as such? Does it take courage to write?

Having said that, humour plays an important role in your novels. Forever X is a comedy, despite the death of FC and the drama at the end of the novel when Mel goes missing. Can you talk a bit about how you use humour? (This is all reminding me of something Jill Paton Walsh once said — that there are only genres because there are shelves!)

Many of your books has an unexpected moment where one or more of the characters makes a profoundly emotional gesture of love or loyalty, or perhaps a character is revealed to be deeply heroic in an unexpected way. I'm thinking of the moment in The Kite Rider when the boy and the girl lie down next to their master in order to die barbarically alongside him, the moment in A Little Lower Than the Angels when it is revealed that the man currently playing Satan used to play Christ, Mr Angel’s redemption in Forever X. I am wondering whether these moments are what you write your books for, or whether they tend to suggest themselves in the process of writing?

You also write for younger children; is there a different approach in writing a short chapter book, or a picture book, to your longer novels?

You write for adults as well as children. Jill Paton Walsh (again!) has said that the only difference, for her, between writing for adults and writing for children is that when she writes for adults she asks herself a question which she resolves by the act of writing the book - in other words, she doesn't know the answer until the end. But when she writes for children, she starts the book already knowing the answer. Diana Wynne Jones, on the other hand, says she prefers writing for children because when she writes for adults she keeps having to stop to explain things. Would you like to comment on that? How would you define the difference between writing for children and writing for adults, if there is one? I note for example that you make no concessions for a young readership with your vocabulary, and your images and so on are frequently quite dense in meaning. You also sometimes move between focalisers/point of view, which is often thought of to be a no-no for children’s books. (I think all of this is a good thing, by the way!)

I read you claimed to have done no research for A Little Lower than the Angels. Extraordinary! Have you researched other books? Obviously, I’m thinking of the historical novels and those set in more exotic climes (although perhaps you did once spend a weekend in a Christmas themed B&B?).

You’re highly awarded and critically acclaimed. What do young readers tell you they like about your books?

Can you tell me a little bit about your plays?

What drives you to write? What is your purpose in writing?

©Judith Ridge 2003

Got to Geraldine's response.