Alison Gardiner
The Serpent of Eridor is an adventure thriller threaded with humour: a fun adrenaline generator. The main character, 14-year-old Alex Weston, casts himself adrift in a tropical typhoon and crosses the barrier into a magical world but has no magic. Hence he must fight wizards, goblins and other mythical creatures, armed not with magic or spells but with courage, wit, loyalty and sheer cussedness. On Eridor, animals talk and Alex finds that his hamster Skoodle is funny, opinionated, a reluctant hero, intermittently brave and regularly takes advice from his dead uncle. Alex must deal with the suspicion that a few ounces of added rodent doesn't make him the strongest fighting unit on the island.
Alex hangs out with an enormous golden bear, a supercilious snake and an ebullient monkey; brilliant, if slightly bizarre, best friends. Vivid, graphic, containing the wonderful and weird, it's a cheetah-paced journey with many twists in the tale.
Although theoretically aimed at ages 10 to 12, ages 8-80 seem to enjoy it!
You are a doctor, broadcaster and have four children – how does your writing fit in with all of your other responsibilities?
I'm very lucky in that I enjoy all of my roles; having fun keeping the plates spinning makes it easier to do. Some of my worlds are synergistic, for example the children are fantastic at helping me with storyline plotting, dialogue, editing and, of course, it’s a complete joy living with four critics. I relax more by switching tasks than by doing nothing as if I attempt to get my brain into neutral, my conscience prods me into doing something productive. I tell it that relaxing is useful; it disagrees. My conscience luckily doesn't sound like Jiminy Cricket, which would get irritating after about 5 minutes. He's more like a Labrador puppy: friendly, active and always wanting to get on with things.
Even if I’m extremely tired, it’s a joy to snaffle a lump of time to write. Writing is my relaxation; it re-energises me.
Why is the fantasy genre so appealing for you as a writer?
Fantasy is completely brilliant as you can throw in all sorts of bizarre, wonderful, graphic ideas and weave them together. For example, Alex’s group fly to the wizard Zorrin’s castle, Ravenscraig, on winged silver crocodiles through a lake that camouflages Zorrin’s front door. They carve past seahorses, dolphins, starfish, then pop out of the bottom so the lake hangs above them like the base of an enormous fish tank. The laws of physics would have a lot to say about that if I tried to create this while writing fiction, but with fantasy – no problem. Zorrin’s side entrance is a mountain which slides open like two enormous grassy slanted sliding doors, cleaving a banana tree at the top in two. Fantasy words are fun too: the spell that splits the mountain is roo-peart scribbley winkle, fisky doodle pleep; there’s a badger called Smuddy Binks, a rabbit/man fusion called Yidgit and a giant snail called Yub. Zorrin has a table made from a Catherine wheel, Flick has a ceiling-to-floor waterfall in her room beside a miniature world containing tiny walking pyramids and sphinxes. What's not to love?
Why did you decide to write for children rather than adults?
The Serpent of Eridor started as a school run story. I had narrated other stories but found that this one really sparked my imagination as well as the children’s, so they were then very keen to get in the car and carry on where we had left off. Win-win situation: kids keen to get off to school – could hardly get better. The tale began to be quite complex as I really settled into my stride but the children clearly loved all of the twists and turns. Finally I decided to write down what I had told so far to regain control and structure. Also, I simply had to know what happened next, so had to write the final two thirds of the story. As I generally write by the seat of my pants rather than being a detailed planner, every writing day is an adventure for me. I had as much fun constructing it as they had in having it laid out in front of them. I found that children are really appreciative of what you create as long as you make it possible to suspend disbelief and make it graphic enough. I don’t think you get tired of fantasy at any age, so although many of the books have been bought for children, a large proportion have been purchased by adults to read themselves, so I suppose I technically write for both.
Please tell us about the character of Alex Weston.
Alex is very much his own person. He makes the decision to go on this journey when he has been specifically warned off it by his father and knows that he may well be throwing himself into mortal danger. His decision to go is partly brave, but I believe it's also consistent with a young person’s feelings of stuff it; I'm just going to sort this. He’s complex; although he has many heroic qualities, he is in many ways flawed: he can be quite quick to anger; doing the right thing is not always instinctive to him; he can be blind if he’s cross. He has to go through an emotional journey with an enormous amount to absorb, recognising the importance of loyalty and having to wrestle with his desires when they are contrary to what he ought to do. He has to rise to a life-threatening challenge in order to save firstly his new friends and, as the stakes rise, Eridor. He has to learn to trust his new friends early on after they meet. I hope a reader would find it easy to imagine themselves in Alex's trainers as he races through the story, melding into Alex's character, learning with him, fearing for him, feeling victorious when battles are won.
How challenging was it to write from the point of view of a 14 year old?
Not as bad as it sounds: new mind-set, mixed emotions, but no acne. In some ways my mind is frozen at that stage of my life anyway; it's almost a relief to be to step into Alex's brain. It's brilliant being able to open your consciousness to look at the world with a different pair of eyes. Teenagers’ emotions are generally very raw and immediate but can be complex, yet without the path of experience to guide them through. So mentally Alex and I respond with the gut, then see how much trouble it leads us into. Often heaps; so he has to dig himself back out, using a teenager’s tools – in Alex’s case, pig-headedness and a hamster. I’ve found that the characters will often write themselves and their own story once I know what's going on inside their minds. It helps that Alex is having a wild adventure, is an independent spirit, so is an interesting head to get inside. It’s been enormous fun writing the story as it evolves inside my head, so graphic that I can see the visual humour, facial expressions etc as I write.
Please tell us about the sequel Alchemy.
Alex urgently needs the help of a wizard boy, Luke, who is trapped on a distant mountainside by merciless goblins. Attempting to free Luke, Tariq the bear is captured by a gargoyle, Bylock, and turned into a marble figure. Desperate to save Tariq, Alex and his friends seek advice from the sleeping stone lions of Torquati who can turn to stone at will. The cats offer the help of Beryl, a sparky, caustic armadillo who could re-animate Tariq. She rapidly comes to loathe Skoodle, wanting him dead.
Meanwhile, Zorrin has taken on the task of returning the Sapphire of Akan to the heart of the living mountain of Makusha. Yet its colossal power is eating into his soul, corroding his morals, overwhelming rational thought. Soon he cannot bear to be parted from the Sapphire, blind to the river of bloodshed on which it has flowed through the ages, so he magically binds the stone to his body. Gathering the obscure pieces of a puzzle laid down by an ancient alchemist, Alex discovers how to release the sapphire from Zorrin. Yet Zorrin is angry, feeling betrayed by them, and is capable of hideous revenge.
What is next for you?
Work is expanding; the family not so, thankfully. The Eridor series is planned at 5 books – so far. Alchemy, book 2, is should be out in summer 2015. I’m constructing the first draft of book 3, The Goblin’s Curse, which is a fantastic stage of the writing process, weaving my swirl of brain flotsam into a story. My children's fiction, a perfect murder, will hopefully also be out shortly. I've written a film script which still needs a final edit. Someone once said that lumps of free time arrive on the backs of unicorns. So, in the immediate future, more Eridor; the film perhaps when my unicorn comes in.
The Serpent of Eridor by Alison Gardiner, Matador £9.99