BIO

"Writing for young readers is almost like dipping into a fountain of youth; for hours a day, I am a child again."
--Iain Lawrence

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INTERVIEW

April 2005

Kidsreads.com contributing writer Shannon McKenna interviewed Iain Lawrence, author of THE CONVICTS. Lawrence describes how an incident that occurred when he was a child helped him write this story from the main protagonist's point of view. He also talks about the novel's historical setting, how he was able to accurately recreate life on a prisoner ship, the research required for his books, and what readers can expect from future installments in this intriguing series.

Kidsreads.com: When you were a child, you saw a prisoner being transported to a penitentiary. Did you have that image in mind when you began writing THE CONVICTS?

Iain Lawrence: Yes, I did. I hadn't thought about the experience for a long time, but it came back to my mind with utter clarity. I had just fallen into the shipping canal near Kingston --- well, really, my brother had pushed me --- and I was trying to change out of wet clothes on a bit of park space beside the highway, as my parents held up towels to shield me. I saw the truck pass, and then the prisoner looking out the barred window in the back, and I remember the feeling of the sun and the air on my skin. But at the time, and still today, I saw the same image as though through the eyes of the prisoner. For him, it must have been a fleeting and poignant picture of freedom --- a happy family beside the canal, a boy who'd been swimming --- and the picture that he took to his cell in the penitentiary. The experience gave me almost a horror of ever being imprisoned.

KRC: How does Tom change throughout the story? Do you think readers will identify with this boy who lived in such a different time and place?

IL: Tom is more independent at the end of the story than he is at the beginning. He's a bit braver, I think. But THE CONVICTS tells only the beginning of his adventures, and he will be a better, kinder person by the time his story concludes.

I hope that readers will be able to imagine themselves in Tom's old London. Though the time and place are certainly different, I think children have remained basically the same. I can't believe that an eight-year old boy ever went happily to the workhouse, or onto the hulks with nothing but fear and terrible loneliness.

KRC: There are several violent incidents in THE CONVICTS. Is this representative of the time?

IL: I believe the time was more violent than the novel suggests. There really were Nobs and Noseys on the hulk that was set aside for boy convicts, and the Nobs were much more violent than I have shown them to be. A group of Nobs blinded a boy in an incident much like the blinding of poor Midgely. Boys on the hulk injured themselves in various and horrible ways --- including breaking their arms --- for the chance to escape for a while to a hospital.

KRC: Early in the story Tom meets the vagabond Worms, who digs up bodies from graves and sells them. Is this based on historical fact?

IL: Yes. Men like Worms dug up freshly-buried bodies and sold them to doctors for dissection. His method --- of digging a shaft into the grave --- is based on a true account.

KRC: How did you accurately recreate life on a prisoner ship?

IL: There haven't been many books written about the hulks. The couple that I could find gave me most of my information. But I also read old newspapers, and the transcripts of an enquiry into conditions on the hulks. I have a friend who is a research librarian. She is extremely talented at finding obscure information.

KRC: The friendship between Tom and Midge is one of the most compelling parts of THE CONVICTS. We don't want to give anything away, but how is the incident with Midge's eyes a turning point not only in their friendship but also in the story?

IL: In the sequel to THE CONVICTS, Tom and Midgely escape from their transport ship. They have to find their way through the islands that Midge has studied in his book. So the blind boy leads the sighted one, though Tom remains Midgely's protector.

KRC: Did your own experiences as a sailor help you in writing THE CONVICTS? When did you get your first boat?

IL: My sailing experience helped with a few scenes, especially the departure of Tom's transport ship. If not for my interest in sailing, the story would probably have stayed very much on the land and the hulk. I imagine that, if I didn't want to follow Tom out to sea, his escape might have been successful.

I bought my first boat when I was sixteen. It was a small dinghy, designed to be sailed on sheltered lakes. But we made some quite wonderful little voyages in that boat.

KRC: Tom doesn't feel that he relates well to his father. Does he come to be proud of the fact that he's the son of the sea captain Redman Tin?

IL: It takes Midgely to make Tom realize how much he really loves his father. Yes, Tom will come to respect and admire Redman Tin.

KRC: How do you research your books?

IL: I spend as much time researching as writing --- sometimes maybe more. My librarian friend provides most of my information, sometimes unearthing very obscure old books, or putting me in touch with experts on little-known subjects. When I had to answer the question, "If you're shot at by a cannon, do you hear the shot before the ball reaches you?" she actually found someone who had been shot at by a cannon! I like it best if I can actually SEE what I want to know in documentaries or re-enactments. More and more, my information is coming from the Internet.

KRC: Did you always want to be a writer?

IL: I don't remember ever actually deciding to be a writer. In Grade 7 I was making little picture books for my younger brother, starring the stuffed duck that he had instead of a teddy bear. I wrote silly comics that were supposed to amuse my friends in school. When I started high school I wanted to be a pilot, but when I finished I wanted to be a writer. I studied journalism in college, then worked for newspapers for the next ten years. I was the editor of a small daily paper when I quit journalism to be a fish farmer, and to begin writing novels. But my first two published books were nonfiction, about my experiences sailing along the B.C. coast in the summers.

KRC: Can you tell us a bit about your writing routine?

IL: Writing is my job, so I can't sit around and wait for inspiration. I start work after breakfast, and keep going until mid-afternoon, when I take the dog for a walk. I write again after that, or take care of some of the business that goes along with writing.

I type my story on a computer keyboard, but as I'm typing I'm telling the story to myself, speaking at times only half aloud, under my breath, and at other times loudly enough to be heard in the next room. So the story seems quite real to me. I'm hearing, and speaking, the words of the characters. I see in my mind what they see in their real, but fictional, lives.

KRC: What do you like best about writing books for young people?

IL: I like that I can spend a lot of time researching things that interest me. I learn much more than ever gets into a book, and sometimes the research for one book leads into something that will become the subject for another book.

I like that I can lose myself in a story, and pass the miserable days of winter --- in my mind, at least --- in exotic times and places. It's like a very low-budget sort of holiday.

I like that I can imagine myself as a child again, and in whatever place or time I choose to think about.

KRC: What authors do you admire? As a young reader, what were some of your favorite books?

IL: I never read fiction while I'm working on a novel, from a fear that I'll "adopt" ideas or writing styles. So I end up reading very few novels. I like Jerry Spinelli and Gary Paulsen, but I find that my favorite books were written some time ago: TREASURE ISLAND by Robert Louis Stevenson, MOONFLEET by James Faulkner, and WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE by Shirley Jackson. That last one was recommended to me not long ago, and it made me want to read everything that Shirley Jackson ever wrote.

As a child I liked true adventure stories told as novels, and the sort of nonfiction book that is full of illustrations and "sidebars" about incidental things. I read a lot about the American West, and about flying.

KRC: What advice would you give to your readers who hope to someday become writers?

IL: It sounds almost useless, but the best advice is to read and to write. More specifically, I think it's not a good idea to discuss with people what it is you're writing about. A story that gets told too often --- and sometimes even once is too often --- never seems to get written. When you start a story, you should finish it. And if someone tells you it isn't very good, then just write something else. With everything you write, you get better at writing. For me, journalism provided very good training. Even now, a deadline helps me write.

KRC: What is it about THE CONVICTS that you think will appeal most to readers?

IL: I only hope that readers will enjoy the adventure, and that some small part of the story --- a character or an incident --- will remain in their minds afterward. If they learn a little bit about history, I would be pleased.

KRC: Will Tom reappear in a sequel to THE CONVICTS?

IL: Yes. THE CONVICTS will be followed by THE CANNIBALS, and that by THE CASTAWAYS. (I think of them as my C stories.) I have a good idea of what will happen through the rest of Tom's adventure, but not exactly how it will end.

KRC: What are you working on now, and when can readers expect to see it?

IL: I am just finishing a novel about a young boy named Danny River, who wants nothing more than to have a dog of his own. When his older brother is killed in an accident, Danny comes to believe that his brother returns to him in the form of a dog.

It's too early for me to say when, or if, you can expect to see it. Even if everything goes well, and the editor likes the story, it will probably be two years before the book is ready.

My next project will be the book that concludes the story begun with THE CONVICTS.

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