Writing The Outlaw Varjak Paw

I never set out to write more than one Varjak Paw book.  I wrote the story of a powerless kitten who gradually comes into his power, and grows into a cat.  For me, that story ends at the end of Varjak Paw.

But writing Varjak Paw, I'd found all sorts of questions I didn't have room to answer in one book.  Take Sally Bones, boss of the meanest gang of streets cats in the city.  Varjak had made a terrible enemy there.  What was going to happen when he went back to the city and met her again?  It was clear that I was going to have to write a sequel to find out.

I have to be honest: I don't usually like sequels.  So often, they feel like a letdown, and as a reader, there's nothing I hate more than a sequel that lets me down.  There was no way I could let that happen with Varjak.  I promised myself there would only be a sequel if it was as good as the first one, if not better.  It needed to be a great book in its own right; a story that could stand alone, and take us somewhere new.

I didn't think it would be that hard.  I already had characters, situations, a world… all I had to do was find a new story.  How hard could it be?  Well, I can honestly say that writing The Outlaw Varjak Paw is the hardest thing I've ever done!  Here was my problem.  In the first book, a powerless kitten becomes a powerful cat.  That's an interesting story.  But a character who has power is just not that interesting.  He can fight his way out of any corner, so where's the story? 

I tried all kinds of things.  I explored the city, and discovered whole new areas I'd never known about.  I met some amazing new characters, like the Scratch Sisters, the Orrible Twins, and of course Buster and Bomballooloo, who I think have the best names of all my characters!  I found out a lot more about the stories of characters like Cludge.  But Varjak's own story just wasn't right.  Nothing felt as interesting as what had happened to him in the first book. 

Around draft eight, I remember losing hope.  I felt sure I'd never complete this book.  I thought I was finished as a writer.  The first book was a lucky accident, but now the truth was clear: I would never write anything else again.  I really, really wanted to give up.  These were very dark times indeed. 

But somehow… those feelings gave me the key to the story.  What if Varjak felt exactly like I did?  What if he believed he'd lost his power, and was finished as a fighter?  How would he survive without the skills he'd learned in the first book?  What would he fall back on then?  The moment I had that thought, the book came to life.  The story came into focus, sharp and clear.  It didn't take long from there to finish it.

The Outlaw Varjak Paw went on to win the Blue Peter Book Of The Year Award – one of the most amazing things that has ever happened to me.  It was recently picked as one of the ten best books ever to win that award, on a list with the likes of Harry Potter, Matilda and The Gruffalo.  So all the hard work was worth it in the end.  

But the experience taught me a very big lesson.  The story is the most important thing.  You should only write a book if you know what the story is, because without that to guide you, you'll get as lost and confused as I did.  So to answer a question I'm often asked: yes, there will be a third Varjak Paw book one day – but only when I'm absolutely sure what the story is! 

"Will There Ever Be A Third Varjak Paw Book?"

For everyone who wants to know the answer to this question, I've just written about it for The Guardian, as part of a feature in which they asked authors about their fictional characters growing up.  Here's the full text of what I wrote, with some additional illustrations...

When I first read Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books, they were a trilogy about a hero in his prime. In A Wizard Of Earthsea (1968), The Tombs Of Atuan (1971) and The Farthest Shore (1972), she told the story of Ged, also known as Sparrowhawk, as he grew from Gontish goat-herd to world-saving wizard: a classic children's book narrative.

That seemed to be the end of it. But then she found new stories to tell. In Tehanu (1990), she showed Ged living a life without magic, learning to take satisfaction in the pleasures and pains of an ordinary existence with Tenar, the priestess who shared his greatest adventure. The book follows her story as much as Ged's. 

Then in The Other Wind (2001), Le Guin showed Ged near the end of his days: still wise, but almost an absence now, reconciled to his irrelevance. The story was about other characters finding their way without him. 

Le Guin wrote a new story whenever she had something new to say. That seems to me exactly right. I've never wanted to give my own characters new adventures in which nothing changes. Repetition seems to me a much bigger risk than letting them grow. 

So in my first book, Varjak Paw (2003), Varjak is a kitten: a very young character who learns a secret martial art from very ancient cats. In The Outlaw Varjak Paw (2005), he is a grown-up cat, and the questions he faces are grown-up questions about law and justice, politics and morality.

I stopped there, because I didn't have another story to tell about him. And I had other things on my mind, such as my space epic, Phoenix (2013), and my current work in progress, Tyger, both of which are about young characters finding their way. But the one question I've heard more than any other since 2005 is: "Will there ever be a third Varjak Paw book?"

To my surprise, now a decade has gone by, I find myself thinking more and more about Varjak. He seems to be ageing with me. I now feel sure there will be a third book, in which the story comes full circle. Varjak will now be an old cat himself, teaching the secret martial art to much younger kittens: passing it on. That makes sense to me as the shape of a trilogy, and the shape of a life.

But to write a story about an old character, perhaps you should be old yourself, to know what it feels like. I'm getting there faster than I thought possible, but I'm not quite ready yet. I am keeping notes, though, making plans, gathering material for that time. 

It's comforting to know that far greater writers have made this journey. I look at Le Guin's example. As she recently said of Earthsea: "Authors and wizards learn to be patient while the magic works." I just hope readers can be patient too.

An Epigraph for Phoenix

If you've read Phoenix, you may have noticed that it doesn't have an epigraph.

An epigraph is a quote that goes at the beginning of a book. I'm a big fan of epigraphs, and usually like to use them. In Varjak Paw, I quoted The Wizard Of Oz: "There's no place like home." In The Outlaw Varjak Paw, I quoted Anne Carson's translation of Sappho:

I had many ideas for Phoenix epigraphs. But in the end, I wanted the universe of Phoenix to be its own universe. From the moment you opened the book, I wanted you to be deep in space, among the stars. Any epigraph felt like would take away from that feeling, so I decided not to have one.

If there had been an epigraph, though, there were three possibilities I was seriously considering.  The first was a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins. The poem is called That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire and of the comfort of the Resurrection and you can read it in full here. The part I might have quoted for Phoenix was this:

"Man, how fast his firedint, his mark on mind, is gone!
Both are in an unfathomable, all is in an enormous dark
Drowned. O pity and indig nation! Manshape, that shone
Sheer off, disseveral, a star, death blots black out; nor mark
Is any of him at all so stark
But vastness blurs and time beats level. Enough! the Resurrection,
A heart's-clarion! Away grief's gasping, joyless days, dejection.
Across my foundering deck shone
A beacon, an eternal beam. Flesh fade, and mortal trash
Fall to the residuary worm; world's wildfire, leave but ash:
In a flash, at a trumpet crash,
I am all at once what Christ is, since he was what I am, and
This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, patch, matchwood, immortal diamond,
Is immortal diamond."

I'll make another blog about the other two possibilities soon!

Varjak Paw Around The World, #7

#7: Finland

One of the nicest things about publishing a book is watching it travel the world. Varjak Paw has been translated into many languages; there are many editions around the world, and I've been doing a series of posts about them all. This week, I'm looking at the Finnish edition of Varjak Paw, where he's called Varjak Käpälä!

The front and back covers are very similar to the British editions, although the text is obviously in Suomi.  The interiors are similar too, with all of Dave McKean's beautiful artwork retained.  But I was excited to learn that The Wizard Of Oz becomes Ozin velho in Suomi!

Like Varjak Paw, The Outlaw Varjak Paw is published in Finland by Gummerus.  Again, the Finnish edition retains all of Dave McKean's beautiful art.

I've had some wonderful comments on this blog from readers in Finland, and I would be really interested to hear more about the translation, and about Finnish readers' experiences of Varjak Paw.  So please do leave me a comment if you've read the Finnish edition – or just say hei!

Everybody Wants To Be A Cat!

Last night, I had the absolute honour of attending Varjak Paw: The Musical, staged by the amazing Year 6 at New North Academy, and directed by the brilliant Fiona Gunn-Stokes!

I visited New North Academy earlier this year; here's the blog I wrote about it at the time.  You can see from all the comments just what a fantastic group of readers and writers they are.  So when they told me they were going to do a musical production of Varjak Paw as their end of year show, I couldn't wait!

It was absolutely brilliant.  They did both Varjak Paw and The Outlaw Varjak Paw in one great big epic story; and they did musical numbers including Everybody Wants To Be A Cat, Love Cats, and Stray Cat Strut!

There were fantastic costumes, make-up and sets; brilliant acting, singing and dancing; terrific use of video for the dream sequences...  it had everything you would want from a stage show!  But for an author to see his characters brought to life like that – it was an incredible experience.  I have to admit, I got quite emotional watching it... though I was definitely not the only one!

So I would like to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone involved – and good luck with everything you go on to do in your lives.  I think you are absolute superstars.  Keep the Way alive!

World Book Week 2014

Every year, World Book Day gets bigger and bigger.  This year, it became an entire week!  I was honoured to take part in a special video made by The Guardian to celebrate the occasion.  Along with my fellow authors Jacqueline Wilson and Jim Smith, I was interviewed by a reader dressed as a character from my books: in my case, Varjak Paw!  The video is here and is absolutely fantastic; there's also a full transcript of the interview that you can read here.

I also visited many schools, and met lots and lots of great readers and writers!  First up was Our Lady Queen Of Heaven Primary School in Wimbledon, where I met Years 6, 5, 4 and 3.  It was brilliant to see so many Varjak Paw fans, and so many people interested in my new book Phoenix.  For anyone who missed it, here's the Phoenix book trailer again:

On World Book Day itself, I visited Montem Primary School in Islington, and talked to Years 6, 5 and 4.  It was inspiring to see so much enthusiasm for books and reading – and I was delighted to see a tiger on the way out of the school, because the new book that I'm working on is called TYGER!

Finally, I visited Friars Primary School in Waterloo, where I met Years 6 and 5, many of whom had read both Varjak Paw and The Outlaw Varjak Paw, and some of whom I understand are now reading Phoenix!  I hope you all enjoy it... and I hope that everyone I met had a totally brilliant World Book Week!

Authors For The Philippines

Here's an amazing initiative to raise money for the Red Cross’s Typhoon Haiyan Appeal, to get aid to the people most affected by the typhoon in the Philippines.  A bunch of authors have donated items to an online charity auction.  Anyone can bid for them, from now until Wednesday 20th November.  If you win an auction, you'll receive the item, and all the money will go to the Typhoon Appeal!

I've donated the following items:

Signed first edition hardbacks of Varjak Paw & The Outlaw Varjak Paw - very rare these days! Unlike the paperbacks, the dream sequences are in colour (amber in the first book, blue in the second!) 

Signed first edition hardback of Phoenix - will be rare one day soon!  

Note: All these books will be double-signed: once by me, once by the brilliant Dave McKean.  We've hardly ever double-signed books before, so these will be super-rare!

Many other authors & illustrators have donated fantastic items: Malorie Blackman, Philip Pullman, etc etc... Please please please, go to the site, have a look, and make a bid  – it couldn't be for a better cause!

School Visit: Hillhouse Primary

I'd like to say a big thank you to the brilliant Zoe Heffer and all the Year 4s and 3s I met at Hillhouse Primary yesterday for giving me such a great welcome!

It was wonderful to meet you all, and to see the fantastic work you've been doing on Varjak Paw and The Outlaw Varjak Paw!  I had some lovely comments on my site even before the visit, and some more lovely comments since:

HI SF SAID i am mollieanne it was really fun when u came into my school today thankyou very much for signing my book today i really want to read your new book phoenix it sounds really interesting and yes i will keep the way alive and again thankyou from mollie

Hello Mr SF Said. Thank you for visiting Hillhouse primary school today. I hope you had a nice time talking about your writing and signing our books. You are my favourite writer and I enjoyed reading about Varjak Paw. I hope you write more Varjak Paw books. Thank you from Jasmine

Mollie and Jasmine, thank you so much!  Messages like that really mean a huge amount to me...  I hope you enjoy reading Phoenix too – let me know if you do!  And if anyone else would like to leave a comment about the visit or my books, this is the place to do it!

School Visit: Trafalgar Junior School

I'd like to say a huge thank you to the brilliant Richard Smith and everyone I met at Trafalgar Junior School on Thursday evening.  It was a very special occasion for me, because I visited the school back in 2005 – when my last book, The Outlaw Varjak Paw, was published.  I had no idea then that it would take so long to write Phoenix!

I'd particularly like to thank Ed and Jack for their introduction!  I really enjoyed meeting everyone, and hearing all your questions, and signing your books...  Most of all, the school guest book, where I saw that some of my own favourite authors had visited recently: David Almond, Sally Gardner, Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell...  I hope you enjoy my books as much as I enjoy theirs!

It was also great to meet Isla Dawes of Kew Bookshop, who runs three brilliant bookshops in Kew, Barnes & Sheen, and did a fantastic job at the event; and Melanie Taylor of the wonderful Little Star Writing, who not only ran a creative writing workshop at the school earlier in the day, but also took all these pictures!  So many thanks to them, and to everyone I met for making it such a special evening!  The final word goes to Sam Allen of Year 4, who left me this amazing comment the next day:

Thank you for visiting our school yesterday evening - it was a very special treat to get a book signed by you on my birthday and it was great to say hi to you at the end. We started reading Varjak Paw straight away when we got home and can't wait to read all three! I hope you visit again before I leave the school. Sam Allen Year 4

Lovely comment!

hi sf said I love your books!!! they're amazing!!! Especially Varjak Paw. We have been reading it at school and it is really interesting. We just wanted to say hi!!! :D

NADINE GREEN

Hi Nadine!  Thanks so much for your lovely comment, you've totally made my day!  I hope you'll enjoy reading The Outlaw Varjak Paw as well - here's one of my favourite images from it:

In fact, that's one of my all-time favourite pictures by Dave McKean – along with the unbelievably brilliant work he's done for my new book, Phoenix!  Publication is less than 3 months away now, so I'll be posting some of those new pictures soon...  hope you like them too!  And please let everyone at your school know that there is a new book on the way!!!

Varjak Paw Around The World #3

Germany

In Germany, Varjak Paw is called Titus Tatz!  I'm not quite sure how they got from 'Varjak' to 'Titus', but apparently 'tatz' means 'paws' in German, so I think that's a pretty good translation!

The German edition of Varjak Paw uses the back cover as the front.  I was very excited to see this, as the back cover was always one of my favourite images, and it's nice that they gave it so much prominence.  Their back cover is a bit less exciting - just text on a simple background - but I do love that amber colour:

The interiors are the same as in the UK edition, with all of Dave McKean's art and layouts.  The same is true in The Outlaw Varjak Paw - or 'Jagd Auf Titus Tatz', as it's known in Germany.

Unfortunately my command of the German language isn't great, but I'm told this means something like 'The Hunt For Varjak Paw', so again, that sounds like a good translation to me!

Are there any German-speaking readers looking at this blog right now?  If so, I'd love to hear from you - tell me what you think of the translation, and how the books are seen in Germany...

Varjak Paw Around The World #2

Japan

The Japanese edition of Varjak Paw is one of my favourites, right up there with the Russian one.  Although it doesn't use any of Dave McKean's brilliant art, I love the look the Japanese publishers created for it.  Here's the front cover of the first book:

And here's the back cover:

Unlike the Russian edition, which has different covers but keeps Dave McKean's artwork for the interiors, the Japanese edition has its own custom-drawn artwork & layouts, unique to this edition.  Here's an example - I think this is a scene where Varjak meets the Scratch Sisters:

And here's a dream sequence, which uses the same strategy that Dave did, placing the dream images behind the text, but using the soft charcoal pencil look that the Japanese edition uses throughout:

The cover of The Outlaw Varjak Paw looks pretty similar to the first book at first glance - but look closer and you'll notice lots of small, subtle differences - especially the reflections in Varjak's eye (click on the image to see it large!)

In the first book, you can see the palm trees of Mesopotamia reflected in his eye. But in this one, I'm pretty that it's Sally Bones... and she also appears on the back cover, looking rather terrifying, as she does in the Russian edition.

So what do people think?  Did the Japanese publishers do a good job?

Varjak Paw Around The World

#1: Russia

One of the nicest things about publishing a book is watching it travel the world.  Varjak Paw has been translated into many languages; there are many different editions around the world.  One reader recently left me a link to pictures from the Russian edition (thanks, Ivan!), so I decided to do a series of posts about all these editions.

I'm going to start with the Russian one, but I'm interested to hear from Varjak fans in all countries.  Please write in and tell me - how does Varjak look in your country?  Are the publishers doing a good job with it?!  Authors generally don't get any say in how their work appears in translation, so it's very interesting for me to hear people's thoughts.

Here's the Russian front cover of Varjak Paw:

And here's the back cover:

I have to say, I think these covers are amazing.  Of course, I love Dave McKean's original covers, and I'm glad the Russian editions use his art inside the books, but it's great to see another take on it.  I think they did a good job with the sequel, too - here's the Russian front cover of The Outlaw Varjak Paw:

And here's the back, with an extraordinary image of Sally Bones:

What do my readers think?  Have the publishers done a good job?