This month, we were delighted to meet with yet another of Ireland’s popular children’s authors, Alan Nolan.
TPP: What was the inspiration behind the Molly and Bram series?
Alan: My granny, Nanny Gigg, gave me a copy of Bram Stoker’s terrifying horror book Dracula when I was ten. I loved it, and always wanted to write a story about Bram!
TPP: Why did you decide to use a well-known non-fictional historical figure in a fictional story?
Alan: Bram is an Irish legend and Dublin icon, and a lot is known about his later life and how he wrote Dracula, but I thought it would be fun to explore his younger life, when he was still at school.
TPP: Why did you think Molly and Bram would make a good team?
Alan: They are quite different from each other – Molly is poor and Bram is posh – but they both love adventure.
TPP: How long have you been writing?
Alan: I used to make comics when I was in primary school, but I was a grown up and a Dad when I had my first book professionally published!
TPP: Why did you want to become a writer?
Alan: I love telling stories! My granny was a great storyteller and she passed that love down to me.
TPP: What is your number one tip for aspiring writers?
Alan: Read, Read, READ! Every book you ever read gets filed away in the back of your head, and when you’re writing you can call up all the characters, stories and adventures from the back reaches of your brain and mix them together into something unique and new!
TPP: Can you remember the first book you ever read and loved?
Alan: The first book I ever read and absolutely loved was Undercover by Deborah Jarvis. It was a ‘rainy day’ kind of book, full of activities kids can do when they are stuck indoors, and it was a mixture of funny stories, baking recipes, ideas for putting on drama shows, as well as loads of quizzes and spy mysteries that the reader could solve. It also had brilliant illustrations and cartoon strips by the great Arthur Robins, who is still illustrating today – I spent years trying to copy his scratchy, wobbly style of drawing!
TPP: Who are your favourite authors?
Alan: I am very fond of Road Dahl books, I love the way he makes the kids the heroes, which is just the way life should be.
TPP: What would you be if you weren’t an author?
Alan: I love history, so I think I would have like to be an archaeologist – but not the type that kneels down in a mucky trench, picking up tiny pieces of broken 12th century pottery – I would have preferred to be the Indiana Jones type of archaeologist, following clues to lost Inca treasure, wearing a fedora hat and carrying a whip! I think I would have even enjoyed getting chased by bad guys!
TPP: What is your favourite book of all time?
Alan: My favourite sometimes changes, but at the moment it is Matilda by Roald Dahl. I adore Quentin Blake’s illustrations. Quentin Blake is another illustrator who is still working today, even though he is ninety-one years old!
TPP: Aside from reading and writing, do you have any hobbies?
Alan: I really like drawing, I draw every single day and am seldom without a pencil or a pen in my hand. I listen to a lot of history podcasts, especially ones about Dublin. I do this for fun, but sometimes they give me ideas for my Molly Malone & Bram Stoker books. My favourite pastime though is walking my dog, Lily. She is a rescue dog, a golden cocker spaniel, and she is a bit on the yappy side but very loveable. I think I actually like the walks a little bit more than she does!
TPP: What is your favourite part about being an author?
Alan: I have two favourite things about being an author. The first is coming up with a good idea for a book; I come up with ideas for books all the time, but when I come up with a good idea, one that is so good it even surprises myself, I get very excited and write and write (well, scribble, really!) furiously in my notebook with a big smile on my face until I get all my initial thoughts down. That first PING! of a story idea lightbulb going off in my head is a lovely feeling.
The second of my favourite things is doing workshops and events in schools and libraries. Kids are brilliant, and so full of fun and questions and comments, that they actually inspire me to write – to write funnier stuff, to write spookier stuff, and just to write better in general! Thanks, kids!