Thank you for the interview James. I love reading Stellarphant and so does my class.

Interview

What was your inspiration for Secret Agent Mole: The Boar Identity?

As with the first graphic novel in the series (Goldfish-Finger), the inspiration is spy movies – especially James Bond. So the books are full of supervillains, evil plans, gadgets, chase scenes, ticking clocks and explosions. That and the same visual and narrative influences that tend to run through my work – Asterix comics, Looney Tunes, Inspector Gadget, and animated films. 

What was your inspiration for Stellarphant?

I’ve always been fascinated by space; the trigger was a random drawing I made of an elephant and a penguin on a spacewalk. I made the sketch in June 2014, and pieced the story together bit by bit over a 7-year period. Another big inspiration was when I started researching the true history of animals that have actually been into space; I also started reading about the experience of women within the early days of the aerospace industry. All of that started to coalesce into Stellarphant. 

What drew you to writing and illustrating middle grade and picture books?

I’ve always loved storytelling and reading. I was one of those kids who always hung out in the library during breaks at school. We also had lots of free time for creative play at school, so I was always drawing and writing little stories, and my teachers always encouraged it (as did my parents and friends). I was lucky to have the opportunities and encouragement early on. 

How did you choose which character to focus the story? 

I’m sorry, I don’t understand the question, could you rephrase?

What was your process for writing and illustrating Secret Agent Mole: The Boar Identity?

The plot of book 2 was originally part of book 1, but then my editor and I realised we had too much story to fit in one book. So we had to break it into two and make two books! 

Each book in the Secret Agent Mole series is 200-page graphic novel. When making any of these novels, first I brainstorm the script. I find that if I start writing before I know where I’m going, I get stuck, so I brainstorm all the story beats in my head first. Once I have the basic story outline ready, I note it all down as bullet points. Then I expand all those into a script, laid out just as you would if you were writing a movie or a play, except it’s divided into chapters instead of scenes. From there, my editor has a read and offers her notes. Then once the script is ready, I start laying out all the text and panels into Adobe InDesign, scribbling out rough drawings with the pencil tool as I go. Then my editor has a read through and offers more edits. Once the rough is good to go, it’s time to start the final art. I do the linework and some of the shading in Procreate on my ipad, then do the rest of the shading and final touchups in Photoshop. Then it’s off to the book designer, and then it’s off to print!

Did your process change for Stellarphant?

Not really. Even though Stellarphant is a 36 page full colour picture book rather than a 200-page greyscale graphic novel, the process is much the same – first I outline the story in my head, then I write out the manuscript, then I do roughs of the artwork, then I do the digital finals. I didn’t use Procreate for Stellarphant, though – I did all the roughs and final artwork in Photoshop on my big wacom cintiq tablet. 

What is your approach to world and character building?

 I don’t tend to go too far with world building; I only really go as far as imagining what the current story and the next couple of stories are going to need. I’m not like the fantasy authors who love to imagine the entire social, cultural, historical, geographical, religious and magical aspects of an entire world – I am in awe of people who have the ability and mental fortitude required to do that. 

In terms of character, I just try to think about what the story needs. For example, Max Mole has two colleagues who make up his team of trainee spies: there’s Helena Hippo who’s the muscle, and June Bug who’s the brains. Max is the heart of the team – the impulsive, empathic, enthusiastic leader. So within the team we’ve got a range of personalities, physical sizes and abilities – just what you need to be able to have interesting stories. it wouldn’t be as useful or interesting to have a team where everyone approached a problem in the same way using the same resources. You need your teammates to complement each other – and sometimes clash with other – to make the stories work. 

How would you describe Secret Agent Mole: The Boar Identity in five words?

Action, comedy, spies, dad jokes.  OR:   A movie in book form. 

Did you have a favourite moment in the book to write?

The opening scene was so much fun to do, because I was dropping Max and his team straight into a secret mission against a very ridiculous bad guy. He’s called Dr Nude and he’s a super-smart, super-villainous naked mole rat. He’s also a total diva, so he’s incredibly fun to write. Which is why I had to bring him back for book 2!

What was your favourite book growing up?

I loved Animalia and The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base, and I devoured Asterix comics. Later I discovered the work of Shaun Tan, plus the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip by Bill Watterson. 

Do you have a favourite genre to read?

Not a genre so much, but a form – I love graphic novels to bits. 

They can tell all sorts of stories – sci fi, horror, fantasy, action, comedy, even non-fiction – if it’s presented in graphic novel format, I need it.