An interview with debut children's author, Jon Mayhew

I first “met" Jon Mayhew through this wonderful portal called blogosphere. It was about four years ago and we had both recently started blogging and, as is the way of the blogosphere, fell in with the same group of bloggers.

I recall, at the time, reading a short extract of his novel in progress, for children, Mortlock and I also remember Jon wondering how he was ever going to get the book right and get it published. I suggested to him that he join the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and I also mentioned that it seemed that several people were using a writing consultancy called Cornerstones.

Over the years, I looked on as Jon did indeed join the SCBWI, went on one of Cornerstones’ self-editing courses, wrote and rewrote and then rewrote some more and ultimately landed himself an agent – Sarah Davies of the Greenhouse Literary Agency. There was lots more rewriting but it wasn’t that long before Mortlock was snapped up in a three book deal by Bloomsbury. On 30th March 2010 Jon had his official book launch with Mortlock hitting the shelves on the 5th of April 2010.

The suitably atmospheric setting in Shoreditch, London, for Jon's book launch
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

Jon with fellow members of the British chapter of the SCBWI at his launch
(image courtesy of Sue Eves and Candy Gourlay)

I was extremely worried that for some reason I wouldn’t like Mortlock, but it is a brilliant romp and I read it in one sitting. Aimed at children of 10 + years, Mortlock is the wonderfully atmospheric story of orphaned Josie and her twin brother Alfie. They’ve never met, but when they do, it’s to unravel the mystery of their shared legacy, the secret of the Amarant - a magical and powerful plant - and it all has them running for their lives, pursued by three extremely unpleasant aunts, who happen to be terrifying ghuls. Set in Victorian England, the story is darkly gothic, full of magic, thrills and chills. It will appeal to boys as much as girls and will, I’m sure, happily rival Darren Shan and J K Rowling!

There is, I have to tell you, very little better than watching a pal succeed, and so, ladies and gentlemen, ghuls, crows and children, it is with pleasure that I introduce you to Jon Mayhew!

Debut children's author, Jon Mayhew (image courtesy of Jon Mayhew)

With all sorts of shivery delight, I have to ask, as the pre-published to the newly published… What does it feel like to become a published author?

A little bewildering, to be honest. But rather good. You spend so much time handling rejection that it seems too good to be true. Once you accept it, it’s ace! I must admit that I have to remind myself that every copy of Mortlock I see does not belong to me!


When did you first conceive Mortlock and where did the idea spring from?

Mortlock came from a number of sources. Alfie Wiggins, the undertaker’s mute came to me when I was watching my son in a performance of Oliver. There is a scene in which Oliver is ‘sold’ to Mr Sowerberry the undertaker and this ‘what if’ idea sprang into my mind. What if an undertaker’s mute found that he could waken the dead? That was my starting point.


How did you learn about the Amaranth and its immortal powers and what made you choose this is as one of the pivotal elements around which the story is based?

The Amarant is mentioned in Paradise Lost which I studied at university many moons ago. I don’t think any reference is made in the poem to its lifegiving properties but a swift Google search established that some people saw the Amarant as an immortal flower! Originally, there was a character in the story, a sort of Lazarus character who could ressurect the dead but he just got in the way, so I turned him into a flower.


Is there any particular reason why Josie Chrimes, your main character, turned up as a girl?

It was strange really, I started writing from Alfie’s point of view and for various reasons, it wasn’t working. I switched viewpoint several times (which was a pain) but finally settled on Josie. In a way, she is the more decisive and action-focused character and so it was easier then to have Alfie as the calming, sometimes cynical voice.


The three aunts in the story are gloriously macabre, to some extent caricatures of every wicked aunt or stepmother that has ever existed. Where did you draw your inspiration from for them?

If I told you I’d have to kill you! In a sense, they are caricatures. They are an amalgam of every bringer of bad news, every bully and every person I’ve known who smiled so sweetly whilst drilling the pointed blade between my shoulder blades. I kind of know who they are. Paradoxically, I love the aunts to bits. I love the way they twitch and flutter in unison and the way they switch from sweetly smothering to ravenous beak and claw.

The wonderfully atmospheric Mortlock booktrailer

Mortlock is gloriously atmospheric, did you find yourself having to do a lot of research into Victorian London?

It just happened as I went along, really. There were key things that I needed to know such as dates and events in the year it was set, just to make sure I wasn’t missing any good possible plot points. I started out with the basic story and then added detail, checked that something was chronologically correct. There were numerous e-mail conversations about sofas, photographs between my agent and then the desk editor and myself. I enjoyed the research and even visited a nice Victorian hearse up in the North east.


The Jon I’ve come to know is a really nice bloke and a very funny one at that, so I have to ask, where did all this gothically dark stuff spring from!?

I suppose it’s all there… lurking in the recesses of my mind. I try to be a very positive person which doesn’t always work. I suppose I work out all the darkness onto the page, perhaps.

Jon clearly has a bit of a thing about graveyards...
(image courtesy of Jon Mayhew)

Mortlock, despite its horror elements is, at its most fundamental, a story of overcoming the odds, good overcoming evil and ultimately it’s a story of great hope. How important do you believe hope is in children’s stories?

Children spend their lives hoping, don’t they? Hoping good things will happen and bad things won’t, hoping boring things will pass quickly and exciting things will come soon. I think a children’s book bereft of all hope might be a bit miserable. I’d like to think that Josie and Alfie came out of the whole experience with each other and a notion that they love and were loved. That’s important for any child I think.


In many ways, Mortlock reads a lot like a traditional fairy tale. What were the key influencers in the creation of this story and your writing per se?

Traditional song influenced the writing in that the themes of death and mortality haunt all the characters. I love the line “I’ll pike out his bonny blue eye,” in the ballad the Twa Corbies. The word ‘pike’ has so many connotations and sounds so aggressive. I tried to match that in some of my writing. A lot of what I write, I tell myself as I run. I scribble it down and then recraft it. Music influences me too. All kinds, film scores set my mind on the right track.

I suppose one of the key influencers was the writing of MR James. I love those old English ghost stories. The telling of stories is fundamental too. As a youngest child, I was the audience for the goriest, most terrifying stories from my brothers and sister.


You landed a three book deal with Bloomsbury, so we know there is more to come – do you want to give us a glimpse of what else you’re working on and are the other books sequels to Mortlock?

The other books are set in the same time and era with some of the same background characters but the main protagonists change. They aren’t sequels. I rather agree with Geraldine McCaughrean when she says she likes a story to wrap up in one book. I’d love to get the ghuls out and play with them again sometime.

The next book is called The Demon Collector and involves a certain Edgy Taylor (have you heard that name before? Check back through Mortlock) as he becomes involved in the Royal Society of Daemonologie. He hunts demons, helps collect them and goes on an epic voyage to the frozen North to find the lost corpse of the arch demon Moloch. Finally, he finds out which is worse, men or demons.

Jon at his book launch, clutching a newly formed ghul...
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

You not only write, but you’re also the father of four, you have a full time job, you run and you play in ceilidh bands. Do you have a clone or a special recipe for packing so much into your life? And do you perhaps have any plans to give up teaching and become a full-time writer?

I don’t watch much television: Dr Who, the news, Being Human and Have I got News For You. I rarely sit around twiddling my thumbs. My job has reduced to four days a week which is meant to help but in reality, I’ll be spending a lot of time promoting Mortlock. I have to admit that my family are very understanding and cover domestic roles for me a lot of the time. I don’t do all of the things all the time either so at the moment, I’m ramping up the running again and easing off the writing for a little bit… A Bloomsbury Time Turner helps too…

I would dearly love to write full time but I’m under no illusions about how hard this is to achieve. You have to sell a lot of books on a regular basis to do this and I have one title out. I do enjoy my day job too so I’m grateful for that but maybe one day…

Jon and his long suffering family...
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

When we spoke a while ago, you suggested I consider blogging as part of the angle to this interview, so I have to ask, to what extent did blogging play a role in the development of Mortlock and how to you see blogging as being important for pre-published and published authors?

Blogging put me in touch with some wonderful people…yourself included. They gave me excellent advice. You put me onto SCBWI and that was one of the things that put me in front of editors and agents at the Winchester conference. There’s nothing like a bit of professional interest in your work to get other editors and agents peering over curiously to see what the fuss is about.

Blogging has also given me useful feedback on work and even one of my first author gigs when Mickmouse booked me earlier this year to run some workshops at their first ‘Word Explosion’ children’s literary festival down in Cornwall.

It’s just such a great community for support and friendship.

Jon and fellow Greenhouse author, Sarwat Chadda, at the launch of Mortlock. Let's not ask what Sarwat is about to do to that crow... (or what the crow's about to do to him!)
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

Your road to publication, as is the case for most writers, is not something that happened overnight. In what way and how did the story change and evolve to what it is now? And how many rewrites did it take to get you to the final print version of Mortlock?

I have actually lost count of the number of rewrites Mortlock had. It started out very long and quite sprawling. I couldn’t write a synopsis for it because there were so many plot strands and points of view. Cornerstones helped to smooth it out and as with the changing of one character into a flower, it was a question of looking closely at each scene and challenging it to justify its own existence! The book changed quite fundamentally once Sarah Davies got hold of it and more characters were killed off, more scenes axed until it was ready to present to the publishing world.


Now that your first book has been published and you’ve learned a whole lot about writing, how many drafts are you into for The Demon Collector? Do you think the writing process gets easier?

Demon Collector is sitting pretty on the editor’s desk and she told me at the launch party that she loves it. Which is good for morale! Demon Collectors was floating about as I wrote Mortlock and went through about three false starts (upto 10,000 words that couldn’t be used) as I floundered around with characters. It was going to be a modern setting but I couldn’t get the tone right and the characters seemed wrong somehow. Once I set it in Mortlock’s world, it started to fall into place but I still struggled with a main character. Finally, I got it all straight in my head, planned it out (I had to present Bloomsbury with a synopsis by last July) and then I would say it just flowed. At one moment of self-doubt, I started hacking and rewriting but then stopped when I realized that the critical voice in my head was not a good one. It’s taken about two rewrites in all. A far cry from Mortlock.

Book 3? Who knows? Well, I do actually. I have a synopsis and a title and have written about 3,000 words…

Jon signs a copy of Mortlock
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

What are the greatest lessons you’ve learned about writing along the way and what advice would you give to aspiring writers?

I try not to give advice as I’m conscious that I have had great good fortune with my writing. I’m also aware of how much talent there is out there. Just keep writing and reading and enjoying it. We all enjoy our writing, yes? If not, then stop right now and do something else instead.

I suppose if I were going to say anything about what I’ve learned it would be this: It isn’t easy, some of it is down to good luck (assuming you have the writing skills in place). Finding someone who loves your work is the best good fortune and you have to do it twice if you want to land an agent and then a publisher. So your story has to be different and the best it can be. It’s nothing new but it’s true.

If you love writing, then do it anyway. Write your best and never, never, never give up.



Many thanks to Jon for agreeing to this interview and here’s wishing loads of success with Mortlock and his writing career!


For more information on Jon Mayhew and Mortlock:

Jon's blog
Jon's website
The official Mortlock website by Bloomsbury
Jon's Facebook Fan Page
A wonderful article in The Guardian about Mortlock
And if you fancy reading an extract from Mortlock, try the Lovereading website