NICOLA MORGAN

For as long as I can remember, I have loved messing around with words. I spent 19 years trying to write a publishable novel before I came up with Mondays are Red. I think I dreamt about achieving that at least once a day for those 19 years. Then it was another two years before Mondays are Red actually appeared on the shelves, so that was a massive 21 years of trying to get a novel published.

Either I was very keen  -  or I was rubbish ...

Before Mondays are Red, I’d had more than 50 early learning books published. Many were, and still are, best-sellers and I once had seven books in the Top 10 children’s non-fiction list, at the same time. But a published novel was my real goal. I never stopped trying: I knew that I would keep writing fiction for ever, even if no-one ever read it. I couldn’t stop.

After university, I sent countless pieces to countless magazines and publishers, wrote two and a half adult novels and received in return enough rejection letters to fill a skip. My most memorable rejection consisted of my own letter returned with the word ’NO!’ scrawled across it in pencil. I did have a few small things published, and some encouraging feedback from publishers.

In 1990 I was short-listed for the Ian St James Awards. Ah, I thought - fame and fortune here I come. It didn’t quite work out like that and nothing else happened, fiction-wise, for years. I had a large number of magazine articles published, though. And I did win a pen.

I have now had more than 80 books published, including teenage novels, younger fiction, home learning books, Thomas the Tank Engine books, a Greek history book and other non-fiction -  Blame My Brain, which looks at the amazing teenage brain, Know Your Brain, and The Leaving Home Survival Guide.

Q: Did you like writing at school?
A: I loved it. I loved everything about English - even grammar. In fact that was one of my favourite bits. I felt that understanding how the bricks of language fit together perfectly and strongly would help me build powerful writing. For me, learning Latin and Greek was crucial to this. Now, I often break the rules, but I do it for a reason.

Oddly, I never actually wrote a story until I was 14. Instead, I always turned every writing task into a description or poem. I remember that story though - it was called The Hostage and was in my first public exam. I do NOT recommend using an exam to try out a new style....

I wrote lots of poetry, too - horribly gloomy stuff. Once, my teacher was so worried that she threatened to contact my parents unless I stopped sounding so depressed. But I’ve always written about things I imagine, more than things I experience. That’s the whole point about fiction.

Q: What do you like about writing fiction as opposed to non-fiction?
A: It uses an entirely different part of my brain. It is freeing and exciting. I love the power of words, the sounds they make and the different pictures they conjure. When I write, I am playing with words, and I always read my work aloud so I can hear it, too. When the sound, rhythm and meaning blend perfectly, that’s when language becomes music. I’m not saying I achieve that, just that I try.

Q: Did you always want to write for younger people?
A: I write for anyone who will read it - I don’t care how old you are! (And actually, I hate age-categories  -  because they make other people feel they shouldn’t read a book). But, no - my fiction used to be for adults and I remember the moment when I changed: on holiday in Crete, my whole family read David Almond’s Skellig and it completely altered my perception. My daughters were about 10 and 8, so it seemed the perfect inspiration to move over to writing for younger people. Young imaginations are more free, somehow, and authors have a wonderful chance to stretch their own imaginations and simply make the words fly.

In a way, writing for young people is a tougher discipline. You can’t get away with endless pages of self-indulgent waffle. Young people only bother to finish the book if it’s more powerful than football, or computers, or TV.

Q: Do you have an agent?
A: Yes. She took me on after seeing the first draft of Mondays are Red. She does all the things I hate - working out contracts and making sure I get the best deal from publishers. When I have a new idea, I discuss it with her first and she gives me an expert opinion.