Samuel J Halpin
About Author
Born in Tasmania with Irish roots, Samuel J Halpin is 27 and writes daily. Having studied journalism at the University of South Wales, Samuel went on to take cinematography at AFTRS, the national Australian film school in Sydney before moving to London and working in comedy TV production. The Peculiar Peggs of Riddling Woods is Samuel's first answer to a childhood raised on a hodgepodge of fairy tales, crowded bookshelves and cups of hot chocolate.
Interview
THE PECULIAR PEGGS OF RIDDLING WOODS
USBORNE BOOKS
JANUARY 2019
Children looking for an edgier, legend-infused story will love THE PECULIAR PEGGS OF RIDDLING WOOD, which follows Poppy and Erasmus as they try to discover why so many local children keep disappearing. The story delivers a vivid setting, some splendid villains and great characters. Plus you will never look at sugar cubes the same way again...
We asked author SAMUEL J HALPIN to tell us more about THE PECULIAR PEGGS OF RIDDLING WOODS:
Q: What has taken you into writing for children? What is your 'day job'?
A: During the day I work in comedy TV production, but it wasn't TV that set me on the writing path. It's very hard to describe, but there is something in me that has to write and conjure stories. I do it all day long. And seeing as those stories are not sensible enough for any adult book, I thought I might as well share them with the people who get me most: kids.
Q: What sparked the idea for The Peculiar Peggs of Riddling Wood - is the finished book very different from your first ideas for it?
A: I wanted to write something that tangled with folklore and legend - two things I feel very strongly about. When I write I like to slice little bits of fairy tales off and stir them into my story until they are unrecognisable but still lend it a curiously familiar feeling. As far as the tone and feel of the book goes it's almost identical now to my very first ideas for it.
Q: The strong fairy tale element breathes through the story with its magic, strange creatures and the local myths. Do you have a favourite fairy tale?
A: Now that is a very cruel question. It's like being asked if you have a favourite family member when they're all in the room. But if you forced me to a cliff edge and told me I had to choose or risk tumbling off, I'd probably have to select Pengersec and the Witch of Fraddom. It's a Cornish fairytale about a terrible witch who is continually trying to destroy Pengersec. Eventually she's banished to float up and down on the tides in a tub and to this day still causes terrific sea storms.
Q: The Peculiar Peggs of Riddling Woods has a mystery at its heart - children who vanish from the town of Suds, so it's quite an edgy story, were these the kinds of books you enjoyed as a child? What were your favourite reads?
A: I loved anything that made me feel alive, and the books that mostly did that had some element of mystery or fear. I'd sink my teeth into Tolkein and Dahl quite a bit. I loved E. Nesbitt and I think people should read more. J.K. Rowling isn't bad either - have you heard of her?
Q: Much of the story is focused on Poppy and her relationship with her gran, who is quite a character. Did anyone inspire her gran? What did you enjoy about writing their relationship?
A: My own dearest gran inspired large sections of the character, particularly the smaller characteristics. My gran used to tell everyone she was twenty-one and have a delicious sense of humour. I really loved writing their relationship because it came so easily. It wasn't difficult to imagine what they'd say at breakfast, or how warm Poppy felt when her Gran would cook and tell her stories.
Q: There are also some great villains in the book - do you have a favourite? Which literary villain scared you the most as a child?
A: Regina Pocks - the bully, because she reminds me that villains often come from a very sad place. As a kid, Cruella De Vil always made me cower in terror. But I think my favourite villain of all time remains to this day The Grand High Witch.
Q: Was there a particular town that inspired Suds, where Poppy goes to stay with her gran for the holiday?
A: Lots of the peculiar details come from my own home town in Tasmania, but a lot of it is inspired by some of the forgotten little towns I've stumbled upon as I've explored the UK and Europe in my spare time.
Q: Where do you write and what's the best time of day for you for writing?
A: Truthfully, although it rarely ever happens, the best time for me to write is about 2am. I found this when I was a student and didn't much care for sleeping. Nowadays I try to keep more normal hours but the dead hours of the night are definitely the time when my mind is most active.
Q: You trained in film - would you like to see The Peculiar Peggs of Riddling Woods as a film? What would be the hardest thing to get right in a film of the book?
A: It would be an honour for the Peculiar Peggs to have the film treatment (I'd love to see it done in stop motion, personally!), if only to see what someone else imagines as they read the book. I'm guessing the hardest thing to get right would be Erasmus, simply because his character is someone who doesn't appear to care but in truth harbours (as the book says) 'the wisdom of an ancient library'....tough, huh?
Q: What are your top tips to young writers for writing a story that is scary - but not too scary?
A: Write characters that you and your readers will care for. If we don't like someone, we won't mind in the least that they are eaten by a ghoul ten minutes into the book, in fact we might even be rather thrilled about it. Build suspense slowly, sewing it into the story one stitch at a time. And lastly, I think the most terrifying things are the ones we don't see. Have a chew on that.
Q: What is your favourite escape from writing?
A: Running. Mad I know. But I love running. Especially in the rain when it's stinging your face and you have to charge through the gloom.
Q: Where is your favourite holiday destination?
We've recently been to Georgia (the country) twice and heard wolves howling in the mountains as we were falling asleep. It was.....indescribable.
Q: What's top of your New Year's Resolutions list?
A: To stop making New Year's Resolutions? I prefer to make my resolutions at other points in the year. I have a theory that if we made more New Years Resolutions at say...Easter or Queen's Birthday weekend, we'd keep a heck of a lot more of them.
The Peculiar Peggs of Riddling Woods
