an interview with Celia Rees

Many thanks for taking time to answer a fewquestions for Books Monthly – I'm sure you're hard at work on Illyria, so this is much appreciated!

BOOKS MONTHLY: What made you decide to write about highwaymen? Does that historical period have a particular appeal for you?

CELIA REES: The starting point for Sovay was a ballad with the same title about a girl who dresses up as a highwayman and holds up her lover. I’ve always loved the song, and I found I wanted to write about the girl. Highwaymen have always been seen to be dashing and romantic, whatever the reality, and I decided to set the book at the time of the French Revolution because it was an exciting and dangerous time and what happened then, still influences our lives today.

BOOKS MONTHLY: Have you ever thought of writing for adults or are you committed to writing for children, and in particular, teenagers?

CELIA REES: It was a conscious decision to write for teenagers, and although I do occasionally think about writing for adults, I’m happy at the moment to write for this readership.

BOOKS MONTHLY: You recognise the importance of the internet to the modern reader and that peer pressure is very important when it comes to recommending books to friends etc. Do you think there will ever come a time when people can comfortably read online or do you think that the printed book is here to stay?

CELIA REES: I think the printed book will be with us for a long time yet. Books are cheap, flexible, easily portable, don’t depend on external signals, crash, or go wrong. I guess we can look forward to e books, but I think I’ll still find it easier to read off a page rather than a screen.

BOOKS MONTHLY: Who were your favourite authors when you were very young? I know that you, like me, soon ran out of suitable reading material for teenagers and turned to writers like Agatha Christie, and romances, but did you, for example, find Enid Blyton stimulating (always supposing you read her)? Any other childhood favourites?

CELIA REES: It depends on what age you are talking about. When I was little, I loved Winnie the Pooh, Wind in the Willows, the Noddy books. When I got older, and could read on my own, I moved on to Enid Blyton’s The Secret Seven. I never liked The Famous Five, I preferred Malcolm Saville’s novels and Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons. I read historical novels by Geoffrey Trease, Henry Treece and Rosemary Sutcliffe, one of my favourites was Captain Maynard’s Children of the New Forest and I lovedTreasure Island, so no wonder I ended up writing  about highwaymen and pirates. I loved Just William andJennings. Louisa M. Allcott’s Little Women was another favourite. I also loved comics, Rupert and my brother’s Buffalo Bill annuals.   

BOOKS MONTHLY: Do you still have any of those childhood favourites in your collection?

CELIA REES: I still have my Winnie the Pooh books,  Wind in the Willows, one much repaired Noddy book, a Rupert Annual, a couple of William books and Little Women.

BOOKS MONTHLY: Do you read contemporary children's books to keep up with the marketplace? There are so many excellent books published each month it's hard to keep u p – and a great deal of them can be enjoyed equally by children and adults – in fact they are often better than adults' books in my opinion. What do you think of the current offerings in teenage literature?

CELIA REES: I do read quite a few, although if I read all of them, I’d never get any writing done! I agree, there are some excellent books out there, but I really dislike ‘issue’ books, which are considered standard young adult fare.  I’ve just finished reading Theresa Breslin’s Nostradamus and Lian Hearn’s Heaven’s Net is Wide – I’m a big fan of her Otori novels. I recently read Sally Gardner’s The Red Necklace, because it is set at the time of the French Revolution, Linda Newbery’s Nevermore,Mary Hooper’s Newes from the Dead and I’m looking forward to readingMary Hoffman’s latest Stravaganza.

BOOKS MONTHLY: When might we expect to seeIllyria? This time next year? Do you have any ideas in mind for what you might work on after that, or do you prefer to get the current project out of the way before thinking about the next?

CELIA REES: Illyria should be out next year, but I’m not sure when. As for the one after that? Much too early to say yet, I haven’t even discussed it with my editor! 

BOOKS MONTHLY: Do you read anything else to relax? Adult fiction, biographies, for example? Or Historical fiction, which has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years, of course – does that interest you at all?

CELIA REES: I read adult contemporary fiction – My favourite author is Margaret Atwood and I particularly like American writers like Cormac McCarthy and Annie Proulx. I read American thriller writers like Michael Connelly, Harlen Coban and James Lee Burke. I also read historical novels, but I only like certain writers – Rose Tremain, Sarah Waters, Peter Ackroyd, E.L. Doctorow, Iain Pears. These writers seem to be trying to do something different with the form. I find some of the recent ‘popular’ historical fiction over long, over researched and badly written. 

BOOKS MONTHLY: How else do you relax when you're not working? What type of music do you like to listen to? What type of films do you like to watch?

CELIA REES:   I have pretty eclectic musical taste from folk music to jazz. I still listen to people I’ve always liked, like Bob Dylan and Van Morrison, but I also like newer bands like The Dixie Chicks. I like watching all kinds of films, but my favourite are well crafted thrillers, especially French ones, they make them so well.  

BOOKS MONTHLY: You mention your distaste for celebrities who use ghost writers. What about such things as adult versions of children's books, for example Harry Potter? I personally don't see the need for them, though I do approve, in some cases, of children's versions of adult novels, and the ones I read as a youngster (King Arthur etc.) only served to make me want to read the full adult versions. Do you have an opinion on this?

CELIA REES: As for ghost written books for children, I am concerned that young readers will not understand that the person with their name on the cover didn’t write the book. Anyway, I think it is the writer who should be celebrated. The book is their achievement.  As for adults reading Harry Potter, or any other children’s book, that is up to them. As far as I know these are not different versions, they just have different covers. In fact, I think cross overs are a good idea. There are some very good books written for children and teenagers. Many adult readers would be surprised at the quality of the writing, if they could only step round their pre-judgement that the books are not for them. If a different cover helps them do that, I’m all for it.    

BOOKS MONTHLY: Do you have any words of encouragement for aspiring writers? How difficult did you find it to get published in the first place? Do you think people wanting to write should get some kind of coaching in creative writing?

CELIA REES: The only thing I can say is, persistence pays off, but it helps to have a good idea and to know who your target audience will be. I was lucky enough to find an agent and she placed my first book for me. I didn’t do any creative writing courses; I just read a lot of books to see how other people did it. I think Martin Amis said that you can teach writing craft, but you can’t teach inspiration. I would agree with that.

BOOKS MONTHLY: If you were cast away on a desert island and had only your five favourite books with you, what would they be? Series count as one title, of course.

CELIA REES: I would take Proust’s  Remembrance of Things Past, Shakespeare’s collected works, a very large poetry anthology,Katherine M. Briggs Dictionary of British Folk Tales and Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast.

BOOKS MONTHLY: Thanks Celia, I really enjoyed SOVAY, as you'll see on the children's reviews page. And I'm looking forward now toIllyria, of course! Thanks for your time, and good luck for the future.

It’s a pleasure. Thank you!